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97 / Cenozoic
Giant Beaver
Castoroides ohioensis
This black-bear-sized beaver had ridged teeth and depended on extensive wetlands.
Structured expansion · editorial review pending
- Time range
- About 3 million–10,000 years ago
- Final stage
- End of the Pleistocene
- Geographic range
- North American lakes and wetlands
01 / ANSWER FIRST
What was Giant Beaver?
This archive records Giant Beaver under the scientific name Castoroides ohioensis, with an age of About 3 million–10,000 years ago and a range of North American lakes and wetlands. This black-bear-sized beaver had ridged teeth and depended on extensive wetlands.
Castoroides fed heavily on aquatic plants and may not have built timber dams like modern beavers. It flourished in lakes and marshes shaped by glacial climates.
02 / QUICK FACTS
Giant Beaver at a glance
- Scientific name
- Castoroides ohioensis
- Age
- About 3 million–10,000 years ago
- Last recorded stage
- End of the Pleistocene
- Known range
- North American lakes and wetlands
- Broad group
- mammal or synapsid
- Archive era
- Cenozoic
- Habitat signals
- Freshwater · Wetland
- Documented regions
- North America
03 / ANATOMY
How was Giant Beaver built?
Overall body plan
This black-bear-sized beaver had ridged teeth and depended on extensive wetlands.
Skull, teeth and feeding mechanics
The available record is interpreted through preserved proportions, attachment surfaces, wear and comparison with related organisms. For Giant Beaver, those observations must be separated from features added only for visual reconstruction.
Limbs, posture and body mass
Castoroides fed heavily on aquatic plants and may not have built timber dams like modern beavers. It flourished in lakes and marshes shaped by glacial climates.
Growth and individual variation
A single specimen does not define the whole species. Size, maturity, preservation and possible sex differences are considered before anatomical traits are treated as typical of Giant Beaver.
04 / DIET & BEHAVIOUR
How did Giant Beaver live?
Castoroides fed heavily on aquatic plants and may not have built timber dams like modern beavers. It flourished in lakes and marshes shaped by glacial climates. This ecological reconstruction is strongest where anatomy, associated organisms and the depositional setting point in the same direction.
05 / DIET & BEHAVIOUR
What shaped its ecological limits?
Its populations depended on food webs, vegetation, water, climate and competition. Changes in any one factor did not necessarily cause immediate extinction, but interacting pressures could reduce range, recruitment and resilience.
06 / RANGE & HABITAT
Where and when did Giant Beaver live?
This archive currently lists About 3 million–10,000 years ago; North American lakes and wetlands. Fossil or historical occurrence data describe where evidence has been found, not every place the taxon once occupied. Species-level age and range limits still require source-specific review.
Documented geographic range
North American lakes and wetlands. This boundary can change when specimens are reidentified or new localities are published.
Time window
About 3 million–10,000 years ago, with the final recorded stage listed as End of the Pleistocene. Rock units and dating uncertainty mean the true biological range may extend beyond the known record.
Environmental setting
The archive uses the broad habitat labels Freshwater · Wetland. These labels help explore related records; a habitat reconstruction requires evidence from individual localities.
07 / FOSSIL EVIDENCE
What evidence supports reconstructions of Giant Beaver?
Primary record
Skulls, teeth, skeletons, isotopes and wetland deposits reveal its ecology.
Comparative anatomy
Preserved structures are compared with close and functionally similar organisms. The method can constrain posture and function, but analogy alone cannot prove colour, behaviour or soft tissue.
Age and locality
Stratigraphy and occurrence records place Giant Beaver within About 3 million–10,000 years ago and North American lakes and wetlands. Reworked fossils and uncertain provenance are treated cautiously.
Open entity records
Links below connect the archive to available taxonomic and occurrence records. A matching name does not verify every ecological claim, and related-taxon links provide comparison rather than an exact species match.
08 / DISAPPEARANCE & DEBATE
Why did Giant Beaver disappear?
Warming and the loss of stable wetlands likely mattered more than direct hunting.
The last fossil or observation marks the youngest evidence currently known, not necessarily the death of the final individual. Explanations are strongest when timing, environmental change and population biology agree; otherwise the profile preserves uncertainty instead of assigning a single dramatic cause.
09 / FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Giant Beaver FAQ
What was Giant Beaver?
This archive records Giant Beaver under the scientific name Castoroides ohioensis, with an age of About 3 million–10,000 years ago. This black-bear-sized beaver had ridged teeth and depended on extensive wetlands.
When did Giant Beaver live?
The current archive range is About 3 million–10,000 years ago; its youngest recorded stage is End of the Pleistocene.
Where was Giant Beaver found?
The archive currently lists North American lakes and wetlands. Species-level locality assignments and the full geographic range still require source-specific review.
How do scientists know about Giant Beaver?
Skulls, teeth, skeletons, isotopes and wetland deposits reveal its ecology.
04 / SOURCES & FURTHER READING
Check the source record
Use the scientific name to compare taxonomy, occurrence records and the fossil record. Database coverage and classifications may differ.
05 / REVISION HISTORY
How has this record changed?
- Completed an AI-assisted bilingual audit of the archive record, corrected identified issues and clarified evidence limits; independent editorial review is pending.
- Expanded into a structured bilingual profile with anatomy, ecology, range, evidence, debate and FAQs; independent editorial review is pending.
- Verified authoritative entity sources and added three responsive reconstruction sizes.
- Initial bilingual species record published.
06 / CORRECTIONS & ADDITIONS