Giant Beaver, Castoroides ohioensis, remains in Canada and an overlooked report from Ontario

Abstract

The Giant Beaver (Castoroides ohioensis) was the largest ice age rodent in North America, reaching about the size of a Black Bear (Ursus americanus). In Canada, fossils of this species are commonly found in the Old Crow Basin, Yukon, and single specimens are known from Toronto, Ontario and Indian Island, New Brunswick. A hitherto overlooked 1891 record of a Giant Beaver skull from near Highgate, Ontario is the earliest for Canada.