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Articles on Beaver

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The beaver lives at the intersection of the aquatic and forest environments, so its presence increases interactions between these two ecosystems. (Shutterstock)

Beavers are the undiscovered engineers of the boreal forest

Beavers are an important ecosystem engineer in the boreal forest and researchers are demystifying their secrets.
The now-extinct giant beaver once lived from Florida to Alaska. It weighed as much as 100 kilograms, roughly the same as a small black bear. Illustrated by Luke Dickey/Western University

Why giant human-sized beavers died out 10,000 years ago

Scientists studied the fossilized bones of giant beavers to understand what they ate and whether the species could keep up with environmental change.

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