Evolution of woodcutting behaviour in Early Pliocene beaver driven by consumption of woody plants.

Modern beavers (Castor) are prolific ecosystem engineers and dramatically alter the landscape through tree harvesting and dam building. Little is known, however, about the evolutionary drivers of their woodcutting behaviour. Here we investigate if early woodcutting behaviour in Castoridae was driven by nutritional needs.

Author Correction: Giant beaver palaeoecology inferred from stable isotopes.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Giant beaver palaeoecology inferred from stable isotopes.

This is a multi-individual (n = 11), stable carbon and nitrogen isotope study of bone collagen (δC and δN) 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.