The North American beaver Castor canadensis is one of two extant beaver species , along with the Eurasian beaver Castor fiber. The North American beaver is one of the national symbols of Canada and the official state mammal of Oregon and New York.
In Canada and the United States, the North American beaver is often referred to simply as "beaver", although this can cause some confusion because another distantly related rodent, Aplodontia rufa , is often called the " mountain beaver ". Other vernacular names, including American beaver [ 23 ] and Canadian beaver , [ 29 ] distinguish this species from the other extant beaver species, Castor fiber , which is native to Eurasia.
The first fossil records of beavers are 10 to 12 million years old in Germany, and they are thought to have migrated to North America across the Bering Strait. The oldest fossil record of beavers in North America are of two beaver teeth near Dayville, Oregon , and are 7 million years old. At one time, 25 subspecies of beavers were identified in North America, with distinctions based primarily on slight morphological differences and geographical isolation at the time of discovery.
However, modern techniques generally use genetics rather than morphology to distinguish between subspecies, and currently the Integrated Taxonomic Information System which provides authoritative [ 31 ] taxonomic information on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes of North America and the world does not recognize any subspecies of C.
Such an analysis would be complicated by the fact that substantial genetic mixing of populations has occurred because of the numerous reintroduction efforts intended to help the species recover following extirpation from many regions. The most widespread formerly recognized subspecies, which perhaps are now best thought of as populations with some distinct physical characteristics, are C. The Carolina beaver is found in the southeastern United States; the Missouri River beaver, as its name suggests, is found in the Missouri River and its tributaries; and C.
