Beaver

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     The common beaver, or river beaver (Latin Castor fiber)— is a semi-aquatic mammal of the rodent order; one of two modern representatives of the beaver family (along with the Canadian beaver, which was previously considered a subspecies). The largest rodent of the fauna of the Old World and the second largest rodent after the capybara.

 

     Beaver is a large rodent adapted to a semi-aquatic lifestyle. Its body length reaches 1-1.3 m, shoulder height - up to 35.5 cm, and weight - up to 30-32 kg. Sexual dimorphism is weakly expressed, females are larger. The beaver's body is squat, with shortened five-toed limbs; the hind legs are much stronger than the front ones. There are swimming membranes between the fingers, strongly developed on the hind limbs and weakly on the forelimbs. The claws on the paws are strong, flattened. The claw of the second finger of the hind limbs is forked — the beaver combs the fur with it. The tail is paddle-shaped, strongly flattened from top to bottom; its length is up to 30 cm, width - 10-13 cm. There are hairs on the tail only at its base. Most of it is covered with large horny shields, between which rare, short and stiff hairs grow. At the top, a horny keel stretches along the middle line of the tail. The beaver's eyes are small; the ears are wide and short, barely protruding above the fur level. The ear openings and nostrils close under water, the eyes are closed by blinking membranes. Molars usually have no roots; weakly isolated roots are formed only in individual old individuals. The incisors behind are isolated from the oral cavity by special outgrowths of the lips, which allows the beaver to gnaw under water. There are 48 chromosomes in the karyotype of an ordinary beaver (40 in the Canadian beaver).

 

     The beaver has a beautiful fur, which consists of coarse guard hairs and a very thick silky undercoat. The color of the fur ranges from light chestnut to dark brown, sometimes black. The tail and limbs are black. Molt once a year, at the end of spring, but lasts almost until winter. In the anal area there are paired glands, fat cells and the beaver jet itself, which secretes a strong-smelling secret - the beaver jet. The prevailing opinion about the use of fats as a lubricant for fur from getting wet is erroneous. The secret of zhirovikov performs a communicative function, exclusively carrying information about the owner (gender, age). The smell of the beaver jet serves as a guide to other beavers about the border of the territory of the beaver settlement, it is unique, like fingerprints. The secret of the fat cells, used in conjunction with the jet, allows you to keep the beaver tag in a "working" state for longer due to the oily structure, which evaporates much longer than the secret of the beaver jet.