Giant Beaver Palaeoecology Inferred from Stable Isotopes

Authors

Tessa Plint, The University of Western Ontario
Fred J. Longstaffe, The University of Western OntarioFollow
Grant Zazula, Government of the Yukon Territory

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

5-2019

Volume

9

Issue

7179

Journal

Scientific Reports

First Page

1

URL with Digital Object Identifier

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-43710-9

Last Page

12

Abstract

This is a multi-individual (n = 11), stable carbon and nitrogen isotope study of bone collagen (δ¹³C_col and δ¹⁵N_col) from the giant beaver (genus Castoroides). The now-extinct giant beaver was once one of the most widespread Pleistocene megafauna in North America. We confirm that Castoroides consumed a diet of predominantly submerged aquatic macrophytes. These dietary preferences rendered the giant beaver highly dependent on wetland habitat for survival. Castoroides’ δ¹³C_col and δ¹⁵N_col do not support the hypothesis that the giant beaver consumed trees or woody plants, which suggests that it did not share the same behaviours as Castor (i.e., tree-cutting and harvesting). The onset of warmer, more arid conditions likely contributed to the extinction of Castoroides. Six new radiocarbon dates help establish the chronology of the northward dispersal of the giant beaver in Beringia, indicating a correlation with ice sheet retreat.