1. Clyde, Wayne County.—A skull of the giant beaver was found, about the year 1846, near Clyde, on the farm of Gen. W. H. Adams. The locality and the geological conditions were described by James Hall (Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., vol. II, 1846, p. 167; Boston Jour. Nat. Hist., vol. V, p. 385). The region is on the divide between the streams flowing north into Lake Erie and those flowing southward into Clyde River. The actual spot was at the head of a shallow stream which flows into Lake Ontario. At this point the Sodus Canal was cut and ran in a north-and-south direction. The farm was only partly swampy. Hall’s section is as follows from above downward:
The skull was found at the bottom of No. 3, at a depth of 8 feet. It is evident that this animal lived here near, or after, the close of the Wisconsin stage, and after the old Lake Iroquois had withdrawn from the region.
2. Canastota, Madison County.—In 1914, Dr. Burnett Smith, of Syracuse University, reported (Amer. Jour. Sci., vol. XXXVIII, p. 463) the discovery, at this place, of an incisor tooth of the giant beaver. The exact locality is given as about 225 paces northwest from the southeast line of lot 10, town of Lenox, on Cowaselon Creek, otherwise known as the “State ditch.” The tooth was found at a depth of 9 feet, in a sticky blue clay, containing a few fresh-water shells. Just above this, at a depth of 7 feet, is a layer made up principally of shells, with some vegetable matter. This animal could not have lived here until after the withdrawal of Lake Iroquois, and therefore not till near the close of the Wisconsin stage.
1. Stroudsburg, Monroe County.—In 1889, Dr. Joseph Leidy reported (Ann. Rep. Geol. Surv. Pennsylvania, 1887, p. 14, plate II, figs. 7–20) the discovery of teeth of Castoroides ohioensis in Hartman’s (or Crystal Hill) Cave, about 3 miles southwest of Stroudsburg and 5 miles from Delaware Water Gap. Its elevation is about 800 feet above the level of Delaware River. The species associated with this giant beaver will be listed on page 309. The parts figured by Leidy are a portion of a palate, with the molars and some of the premolars, and both rami of the lower jaw, showing the three temporary molars and the first true molars, with some incisors and the permanent canines.
1. Nashport, Muskingum County.—In 1836 (Amer. Jour. Sci., ser. 3, vol. XXXI, pp. 79–83), S. P. Hildreth, in an unsigned article, gave an account of the finding of remains of the type specimen of the giant beaver, in association with remains of mastodon and of a supposed fossil sheep, at a point 2 miles north of Nashport. A canal, now abandoned, was being constructed, which followed two small streams, one of which flowed into Licking River, the other into Wakitomika Creek. The land traversed was flat and swampy. The distance from Nashport to Wakitomika Creek is nearly 4 miles, so that in saying that the spot was on this creek Hildreth spoke in general terms. The bones of the mastodon and the right halves of the lower jaws of two giant beavers were found resting on a bed of gravel at a depth of 14 feet. Foster (2d Ann. Rep. Geol. Surv. Ohio, 1838, p. 80) stated that a molar and a tusk of an elephant had also been found here. Hildreth concluded that the jaws and teeth were perhaps those of an animal of the beaver family; “or, from the grooved outer surfaces of the incisors, a marine animal of the walrus or seal race, and a borderer of the ancient ocean.” It was afterwards described by J. W. Foster (2d Ann. Rep. Geol. Surv. Ohio, 1837, p. 80, figs.) under the name of Castoroides ohioensis. The remains described consisted of the front end of one side of a lower jaw with its incisor, an upper incisor, and a radius. They showed signs of some attrition; but in a region like that they could not have been transported any considerable distance.
In the mud in which the canal at this point was cut, there were found three skulls of a species of sheep, which Hildreth thought were different from those of the domestic sheep and to which he gave the name of Ovis mamillaris. They are said to have been discovered at a depth of 8 feet. It seems quite possible that they had been lying on or near the surface and had made their way to the side of the canal by the flow of the mud, which gave much trouble by filling up the canal during the night. Most, if not all, of the differences thought to separate these skulls from the domestic sheep disappear on comparison. The specimens of both Castoroides and of the sheep have probably been lost. They appear not to be at Zanesville. On page 82 of the article above cited, Hildreth stated that he had received, from some point on Wills Creek, a portion of a tooth similar to the one found at Nashport; the place was said to be about 40 miles east, apparently, of Zanesville. This would seem to be in Noble County. The tooth was described as being embedded in dark-colored carbonate of lime and as having fallen from a calcareous rock which lies near the tops of the hills, 150 feet above the bed of the creek. It is very probable that this was not a tooth of Castoroides. It may have been the spine of a palæozoic shark.
2. Wilmington, Clinton County.—From Professor W. C. Mills, of the Ohio State University, the writer in 1913 obtained information that a fine skull of Castoroides, without the lower jaw, had been found on the farm of Mr. J. M. Richardson, on the western border of Wilmington. Nothing more has been learned about the discovery. The locality is north of the Hartwell moraine, and the animal must have lived there after the withdrawal of the ice-sheet from that region.
3. Germantown, Montgomery County.—One mile east of Germantown, Edward Orton, State geologist of Ohio, found along Twin Creek a large tooth which (Amer. Jour. Sci., ser. 2, vol. L, 1870, p. 54) he compared with the tusk of a hog. It was later identified by J. S. Newberry (Proc. Lyc. Nat. Hist. New York, vol. I, 1870, p. 83) as belonging to Castoroides. It was found in a bed of peat which is overlain by from 50 to 100 feet of glacial drift. One might conclude that the animal had lived there at some time between the Illinoian and Wisconsin stages. However, opinions have differed.
The geology along Twin Creek has been studied by Orton, Wright, and Leverett. The last named published his views in 1902 (Monogr. U. S. Geol. Surv., XLI, pp. 363–365, plate XIV, fig. 1). He states (p. 365) that there seem to be good reasons for believing that the peat-bed indicates the lapse of a considerable interval of deglaciation. Whether the interval preceded or followed the formation of the early Wisconsin moraine is yet to be determined. That seems to mean that the interval may be mid-Wisconsin or pre-Wisconsin. Wright thought that but a few hundred years had elapsed between the deposit of the till below the peat and that above. Orton’s description of the locality was published in 1870 (Amer. Jour. Sci., ser. 2, vol. L, p. 54).
4. West Sonora, Preble County.—In 1893 (Amer. Geologist, vol. XII, p. 73), Professor Joseph Moore reported that a fragment of an upper incisor of Castoroides had been found at West Sonora. It was associated with remains of a mastodon. West Sonora is on the Englewood moraine.
5. Greenville, Darke County.—In 1883 (Jour. Cin. Soc. Nat. Hist., vol. VI, p. 238), F. W. Langdon described a tooth of Castoroides, found at a depth of 4 feet, in a swampy locality near Greenville. In 1893 (Amer. Geol., vol. XII, p. 73), Joseph Moore stated that this tooth belonged to Dr. J. W. Jay, of Richmond. It may now possibly be in the collection of Earlham College. Moore said that it had been found associated with mastodon.
In the public library at Greenville is a fragment of an upper incisor of Castoroides, found in making a ditch along Bridge Creek, in 1889, by Mr. Leo Katzenberger, who writes that the place is in the northwest corner of section 1, township 11, range 2 west, 1.5 miles southwest of Greenville. These animals likewise lived on or near the Sidney moraine.
6 New Knoxville, Auglaize County.—In C. W. Williamson’s “History of Ohio and Auglaize County,” 1905, on page 338, with a figure, is an account of the finding of a skull of Castoroides ohioensis in section 29 of Washington Township, which is in township 6 south, range 5 east, and near New Knoxville. The discovery had been made that beneath a bed of humus there was a stratum of gravel of a quality for road making. In removing the upper peaty layer, the head of the giant beaver was discovered, near the south margin of the pond. Williamson stated that the house of the animal was uncovered. It was between 3 and 4 feet high and about 8 feet square; the poles of which it was constructed were about 3 indies in diameter and were laid after the manner of the houses of modern beavers. Apparently the beaver died in the house, and it was thought that after the death of the beaver wolves or other carnivorous animals had inhabited the house, since bones of deer and other animals were strewn over the floor. It is to be regretted that the house, if such it was, was not taken up in a way that it might have been accurately reconstructed. Williamson’s account is reproduced in Bulletin 16, Geological Survey of Ohio, 4th series, 1912, page 39.
In Heidelberg University, Tiffin, Ohio, the writer has seen a very large skull of Castoroides, labeled as found at Wapakoneta, but it is quite certainly the one found at New Knoxville. Both incisors are broken off close to their insertion in the skull. Williamson’s figure represents at least the left one present.
1. Berrien County.—In the American Museum of Natural History, New York, is a nearly complete skull with the left ramus of the lower jaw, purchased from Mr. George A. Baker. The exact place in the county where it was found is unknown, and the writer has been unable to get into communication with Mr. Baker.
As to the time in the Pleistocene when this individual lived, we may be sure that it was after the Wisconsin glacial ice-sheet had abandoned this county. How long after this retirement it is impossible to say. It is to be noted that both mastodons and mammoths have been found in this county, in what appear to be deposits of the same age.
2. Adrian, Lenawee County.—In the U. S. National Museum is a skull of Castoroides (Cat. No. 197), of which the lower jaw is missing. This was received June 10, 1880, from Professor J. Kost, then of Adrian College, Michigan. In his letter Professor Kost wrote as follows:
“Found in fresh-water marsh, 4 feet under, in Adrian, Lenawee Co., Michigan. In same place as the Decker mastodon, now in Adrian College; also of lower jaw of smaller mastodon (sent in this consignment), with various bones of elk, deer, etc.”
The mastodon jaw referred to is in the U. S. National Museum (No. 188). The present writer has not been able to learn exactly where all these bones were obtained. It would be interesting to know whether all–mastodons, giant beaver, elk, and deer–were found in the same excavation. It is probable that they were at least in nearly the same spot. For remark on the age of the deposits at Adrian see page 81.
3. Ann Arbor, Washtenaw County.—In the collection of the Department of Geology in the University of Michigan is a skull which lacks the lower jaw and is otherwise slightly injured. A report of this specimen was made in 1914 by Mr. N. A. Wood (Science, n. s., vol. XXXIX, p. 759). This was found several years ago in a peat-bog on the farm of Professor J. B. Steere, 3 miles south of Ann Arbor, at a depth said to have been about 3 feet. Beneath the peat and muck is a gravelly marl. According to the Ann Arbor Folio (No. 155, U. S. Geol. Surv.), there is, running south from the city, a strip of low ground designated as occupied by peat and muck. This borders on the east a part of the Fort Wayne moraine, and must have provided an ideal spot for colonies of these great beavers. Naturally these specimens must be credited to the Late Wisconsin stage.
4. Attica, Lapeer County.—In the collection of Alma College, Alma, Michigan, is a fragment of an upper incisor, found at a depth of 7 feet, in digging the tail-race of a mill in Attica. The statement was made that at the same place there were often found what appeared to have been beaver dams made of wood. This wood crumbled on coming to the air. In cases like this there is a fine opportunity to determine whether or not the wood had been gnawed by the broad incisors of Castoroides or by the narrower ones of the existing beaver. The wood might easily be prevented from crumbling by replacing the water with a solution of gum arabic or even of glue.
Attica is situated some distance outside of the beaches of old Lake Maumee, and on low ground between morainic tracts left by the Saginaw lobe in its retreat. These gigantic beavers must, therefore, have lived near the close of the Pleistocene.
5. Owosso, Shiawassee County.—In the collection of the University of Michigan (No. 3109) is the greater part of a lower jaw of a giant beaver, found somewhere near Owosso, in a swamp deposit. An account of this specimen was given in 1914 by Mr. N. A. Wood (Science, n. s., vol. XXXIX, p. 758). It was received from Mr. A. G. Williams in 1892. According to Leverett and Taylor’s glacial map of Michigan, Owosso lies a few miles outside of the beach of old Lake Saginaw. This is supposed to have come into existence about the close of the period of Lake Maumee. The earliest time when this beaver might have existed, leaving out the question of the climate, would coincide closely with the time when the one found at Attica might have lived. It is most probable that both lived at a time when the glacier front was farther away.
1. Vanderburg County.—In 1884 (14th Ann. Rep. Geol. Surv. Indiana, pt. 2, p. 37), in a footnote written probably by John Collett, State geologist, it is stated that remains of Castoroides ohioensis had been found in this county. Inasmuch as this county lies outside of the drift region, and as no details as to place and depth were given, we can arrive at no conclusion as to the stage of the Pleistocene in which the possessor of this tooth lived. The reader may consult page 258.
2. Richmond, Wayne County.—About 2 miles east of Richmond, where a farmer was scooping out wet earth for a fish-pond, there was found by Joseph Moore (Amer. Geologist, vol. XII, p. 73) a fragment of an upper incisor of this species. With it were sound and decayed teeth of the mastodon. Most probably this fish-pond was being excavated in low ground where a marsh had existed. Richmond is situated just south of the Bloomington moraine, on an area which is undulating and more or less morainic. The animal must have lived at some time after the culmination of the Wisconsin stage.
3. Greenfield, Hancock County.—In 1893 (Amer. Geologist, vol. XII, p. 73), Joseph Moore mentioned the fact that some remains of Castoroides had been found near Greenfield and that these were in the possession of Dr. M. M. Adams. In 1900 (Proc. Ind. Acad. Sci. for 1899, p. 171, plates I, II), Moore presented figures of the skull and made some brief statements regarding it. At that time the skull had come into the possession of Earlham College. If restored this skull would have had a length of 13 inches. Nothing is known as to the exact place where it was found, but it can not be doubted that the animal lived after the Wisconsin ice had retreated further north.
4. Jamestown, Boone County.—In the State Museum at Indianapolis is a lower jaw of a giant beaver which has all of the molars, but whose incisors are broken off at the border of the bone. This specimen was presented by Mr. A. E. Deatley, of Lizton, Hendricks County, who found it in earth thrown out by a dredging machine, but the exact locality was not stated. Jamestown is situated on Eel River where it crosses the Champaign moraine. The geological age of the animal is therefore Late Wisconsin.
5. Summitville, Madison County.—In the State Museum at Indianapolis is an upper right incisor of the giant beaver in its premaxilla, labeled as presented by Mr. J. F. Cartwright. Nothing more is known of the history of the specimen.
Summitville is surrounded by plains of Wisconsin drift. It is about 12 miles from the place where was found the fine mounted specimen of Elephas primigenius now in the American Museum of Natural History, New York.
6. Union City, Randolph County.—Here was found the nearly complete skeleton of Castoroides ohioensis at Earlham College, Richmond, Indiana. This was secured by Professor Joseph Moore, who described and figured it. It was discovered on the farm of John M. Turner, about 8 miles nearly east of Winchester. Mr. Turner has informed the writer that the farm is a part of section 15, township 17, range 1.
The bones occurred in a layer of fine-grained marly silt from 2 to 3 feet thick, overlain by from 3 to 4 feet of dark loose mold abounding in fragments of shrubby stems and vines in various stages of decay. Under the silt containing the bones were coarser and finer drift gravels which formed the bottom of the ditch. In the silts were found fresh-water gasteropods and bivalve shells. Along the same ditch, within a distance of 30 rods, other fragments were found which were supposed to indicate 9 individuals of Castoroides. As this region is covered by Wisconsin drift, the animal evidently lived after the Wisconsin ice-sheet had retired from the Union City moraine, possibly a long time thereafter.
7. Fairmount, Grant County.—Near Fairmount were found some limb-bones and other parts (but no skull) of the giant beaver. These were obtained not far from where the large specimen of Elephas primigenius was discovered which is mounted in the American Museum of Natural History in New York. The remains of this Castoroides are in the Field Museum of Natural History. No details regarding the find have been published. It was stated that near the bones were parts of trees, as though a dam had been built there; but this interesting matter appears not to have been investigated.
The elephant mentioned above was found on the farm of Dora C. Hitt, in the southeast quarter of section 23, township 23 north, range 8 east.
8. Carroll County.—In 1884 (14th Ann. Rep. Geol. Surv. Indiana, pt. 2, p. 37) the State geologist, John Collett, wrote that Castoroides had been found in this county; but nothing was added to this statement. On the map the number is placed arbitrarily.
9. Logansport, Cass County.—In the U. S. National Museum is a fine skull of Castoroides, without lower jaw, which, according to the newspaper report accompanying it (dated January 30, 1894), was found 2 or 3 miles north of Logansport, by Mr. S. L. McFadin, who sold it to the National Museum. It lay at a depth of 7 feet on a fine sand, above which was a foot of solid gravel, then 3 feet of solid clay, and at the top 3 feet of alluvium. According to Leverett and Taylor’s map of the region (Monogr. U. S. Geol. Surv., vol. LIII, plate VI), this place would be on the moraine which lies north of the Wabash River, the meeting-place of the ice-lobes coming from Lake Michigan, Lake Erie, and Saginaw Bay.
10. Macy, Miami County.—From Mr. C. F. Fite, Denver, Indiana, the writer received a photograph of a tooth of Castoroides, apparently the lower right incisor. This was found in Allen Township. Mr. Fite gives as the exact locality section 23, township 29, range 3 east. This would be not far from Macy. It lies, therefore, on or near the northern border of the great moraine which extends from Delphi, Indiana, to the northeastern corner of the State.
11. Kosciusko County.—As in the case of Cass County, we depend for our knowledge of the discovery of Castoroides in Kosciusko County on the statement made by John Collett, in the place there cited.
12. Grovertown, Starke County.—From Dr. E. S. Riggs, of Field Museum of Natural History, the information has been received that there is at that museum a fine skull, with the right half pf the mandible, of a giant beaver which was found 1.5 miles west of Grovertown, in making an excavation for the abutment of a bridge, 6 feet below the surface in township 34 north, range 1 west. This is within the region of the Pleistocene Lake Kankakee.
1. Shawneetown, Gallatin County.—In the collection of the Academy of Natural Science of Philadelphia are a part of one incisor, two molars, and two petrous bones which were many years ago obtained by a Dr. Feuchtwanger, from a well at a depth of 40 feet. These were mentioned by Le Conte in 1852 (Proc. Acad. Phila., vol. VI, p. 53). Leidy has figured the incisor (Holmes’s “Post-Pliocene Fossils of South Carolina,” 1860, plate XXII, fig. 5; Ann. Rep. Geol. Surv. Pennsylvania, 1887, plate II, fig. 10). Leverett (Monogr. U. S. Geol. Surv., vol. XXXVIII, p. 65) states that at Shawneetown a boring for gas and oil penetrated 112 feet of alluvial and other deposits before reaching rock. His map (plate VI) indicates that here the valley of the Ohio is composed of sand and gravel plains of Wisconsin age. Under the conditions it seems impossible to form any certain conclusions regarding the geological age of this specimen. It belongs possibly to the later half of the Pleistocene.
2. Alton, Madison County.—In the McAdams collection, described on page 338, is a part of a large upper incisor, in two pieces, of a specimen of Castoroides, with McAdams’s Nos. 209, 210, and a small fragment of another incisor. All three specimens are more or less enveloped in nodules of hard materials. In 1883 (Trans. St. Louis Acad. Sci., vol. IV, p. LXXX) McAdams stated that he had seen, both in true and modified drift, remains of rodents large and small, but one, an extinct beaver, was of monstrous size.
For conclusions as to the age of the fauna secured by McAdams see page 339.
3. Charleston, Coles County.—In 1867 (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., p. 97), Leidy briefly described a skull of Castoroides, sent to him for examination by Professor A. H. Worthen. It lacked both zygomatic arches and the incisor teeth. The length of the skull was 10.5 inches. This skull had been found by someone while he was plowing in a field near Charleston. The region about Charleston is covered by the Shelbyville lobe of the early Wisconsin drift. The animal must have lived at some time after the deposition of that drift.
4. Naperville, DuPage County.—H. M. Bannister (Geol. Surv. Illinois, vol. IV, p. 113) reported a skull and other parts of the skeleton of Castoroides, found by a farmer in a slough not far from Naperville. The skull went to Colonel Wood’s Museum in Chicago, and it was probably destroyed in the great fire of 1871. This animal quite certainly lived after the retirement of the Wisconsin ice-sheet.
1. Charleston, Charleston County.—In 1860, Dr. Joseph Leidy (Holmes’s Post-Pl. Foss. South Carolina, p. 114, plate XX, figs. 6–8) recorded the fact that fragments of the teeth of the giant beaver had been found in the Pleistocene deposit of Ashley River.
In the Pinckney collection is an upper cheek-tooth, the fourth premolar. The height of the tooth is 37 mm., the length is 16 mm., the width 11.5 mm. It was found in the vicinity of Charleston.
In the Scanlan collection, the property of Yale University, and made in the vicinity of Charleston, are five more or less injured teeth. One is a left upper molar, either the second or the third. The length of the grinding-surface is 12 mm., the width 13 mm. Two fragments of upper right incisors are interesting. One of these, 140 mm. long, bears the oblique excavated surface worn by the lower incisors. Each diameter of the tooth is 25 mm. The other fragment is 123 mm. long and comes from the middle of the tooth. The two diameters of this tooth are, as in the other one, 25 mm. Both of these teeth appear to be more strongly curved than the teeth of more northern specimens. Also, the striation on the outer face of the tooth is finer, finally becoming hair-like lines as the rear face is approached. More of the larger ridges in the front of the tooth are directed obliquely and terminate along a front groove than in specimens hitherto observed. It is possible that an undescribed species is indicated. The two teeth present some differences between themselves. Another fragment, 103 mm. long, has a diameter of 20 mm. At the base is seen a part of the pulp-cavity.
1. Brunswick, Glynn County.—In a small collection of vertebrate fossils made during dredging operations at Brunswick not many years ago, and which now belongs to the Geological Survey of Georgia, Gidley found a fragment of an incisor tooth of Castoroides ohioensis. The accompanying species will be recorded on page 370. Gidley’s list is found on page 436 of Bulletin No. 26 of the Geological Survey of Georgia.
1. Natchez, Adams County.—James Hall, in 1846 (Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., vol. II, p. 168; Jour. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., vol. V, p. 380), announced that remains of this animal had been found in the neighborhood of Natchez. The exact locality is unknown and likewise the conditions under which the specimens were discovered. This species is not included by Leidy in his list of fossil mammals found in Pleistocene deposits in Mississippi up to 1854 (Wailles, Agri. Geol. Mississippi, p. 196).
A list of the species found in the vicinity of Natchez is presented on page 392.
1. Memphis, Shelby County.—In 1850, Dr. Jeffries Wyman reported (Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., vol. III, p. 281) that a part of a lower jaw of Castoroides had been found at Memphis. With it were a toe-bone of Megalonyx, a tooth of a young mastodon, and a part of the lower jaw of a beaver. It was thought that these remains had been buried in the deposits laid down by Mississippi River. It is to be regretted that the locality and the height above the river were not more exactly specified. The specimen of Castoroides, a right ramus of the lower jaw, is now in the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia.