Understanding Castoroides ohioensis
Castoroides ohioensis is an extinct giant beaver that lived in this region during the Pleistocene. (It is visible here with a modern beaver, left, for comparison.) Recent research by Museum Director Heather Lerner, sheds new light on this species. More on her work can be viewed here. The specimen on display in our Pleistocene Giants exhibition is the most complete known specimen in the world. Many of the casts displayed in other museums around the world are made from this unique specimen.
For the history of the discovery, read Joseph Moore's own report to the Cincinnati Society of Natural History.
Publications:
Georgios Xenikoudakis, Mayeesha Ahmed, Jacob Colt Harris, Rachel Wadleigh, Johanna L.A. Paijmans, Stefanie Hartmann, Axel Barlow, Heather Lerner, Michael Hofreiter. (2020) Ancient DNA reveals twenty million years of aquatic life in beavers. Current Biology, Volume 30, Issue 3: R110-R111. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2019.12.041.