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Beavers are semi-aquatic rodents native to North America and Europe. They are the only living members of the family Castoridae, which contains a single genus, Castor. more...

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Genetic research has shown the European and North American beaver populations to be distinct species and that hybridization is unlikely.

General

Beavers are best known for their natural trait of building dams in rivers and streams, and building their homes (aka lodges) in the eventual artificial pond. They are the second-largest rodent in the world (after the capybara).

Beavers continue to grow throughout life. Adult specimens weighing over 25 kg (55 lb) are not uncommon. Females are as large as or larger than males of the same age, which is uncommon among mammals.

Species

The European Beaver (Castor fiber) was hunted almost to extinction in Europe, both for fur and for castoreum, a secretion of its scent gland believed to have medicinal properties. However, the beaver is now being re-introduced throughout Europe. Several thousand live on the Elbe, the Rhone and in parts of Scandinavia. In northeast Poland there is a thriving community of Castor fiber. They have been reintroduced in Bavaria and The Netherlands and are tending to spread to new locations. The beaver finally became extinct in Great Britain in the sixteenth century: Giraldus Cambrensis reported in 1188 (Itinerarium ii.iii) that it was to be found only in the Teifi in Wales and in one river in Scotland, though his observations are clearly first hand.

In October 2005, six European beavers were re-introduced to Britain in Lower Mill Estate in Gloucestershire, and there are plans for re-introductions in Scotland and Wales.

The extinct North American Giant beaver (Castoroides ohioensis) was one of largest rodents that ever evolved. It disappeared, with other large mammals in the Holocene extinction event, which began about 13,000 years ago.

Habitat

The habitat of the beaver is the riparian zone inclusive of stream bed. The habit of the beaver for hundreds of thousands of years in the Northern Hemisphere has been to keep these watery systems healthy and in good repair, although to a human observer, seeing all of the downed trees, it might sometimes seem that the critters are doing just the opposite. Beaver work as a keystone species in an ecosystem by creating wetlands that are utilized by many other species. The ability of beavers to radically alter landscape is amazing. Next to humans, no other extant animal does more to shape its landscape. Introduced to an area without its natural predators, as in Tierra del Fuego, beavers have flooded thousands of acres of land and are considered an unstoppable plague. One notable difference in Tierra del Fuego from most of North America is that the trees found in Tierra del Fuego do not coppice as do the Willows, Poplars, Aspens etc of North America. Thus the "damage" by the beavers seems more severe.

Read more at Wikipedia.org