Palaeocastor

Palaeocastor
Temporal range: Late Oligocene to Early Miocene
P. fossor, collected in Wyoming. At the American Museum of Natural History
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Castoridae
Subfamily: †Palaeocastorinae
Genus: †Palaeocastor
Leidy, 1869
Species

†Palaeocastor fossor †Palaeocastor peninsulatus

Palaeocastor ('ancient beaver') is an extinct genus of beavers that lived in the North American Badlands during the late Oligocene period[1] to early Miocene.[2] Palaeocastor was much smaller than modern beavers. There are several species including Palaeocastor fossor, Palaeocastor magnus, Palaeocastor wahlerti, and Palaeocastor peninsulatus.[2] The animals first became known on grounds of their fossilized burrows, the "Devil's corkscrews".

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference OnceHats was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b Calede, Jonathan Jean-Michel (2013-05-01). "Skeletal Morphology of Palaeocastor peninsulatus (Rodentia, Castoridae) from the Fort Logan Formation of Montana (early Arikareean): Ontogenetic and Paleoecological Interpretations". Journal of Mammalian Evolution. 21 (2): 223–241. doi:10.1007/s10914-013-9231-8. ISSN 1064-7554. S2CID 15912243.