OASTOROIDID^— CASTOROIDES— C. OHIOENSIS. 423 



.... In the Fibers, the pterygoid fossae are largely developed, but the 

 entrance to the posterior nares has the same conformation as in the other 

 Rodents."* It is almost surprising, in view of Dr. Wyman's admirable 

 memoir and excellent figures, that zoologists have so long overlooked the 

 important characters that distinguish Castoroides from all other Rodents. f 



CASTOROIDES OHIOENSIS Foster. 



SYNONYMY.f 



[Extinct animal of the order Rodentia FosTERt], Amer. Journ. Sci. and Arts, xxxi, 1837, 80, figs. 15-17 (first 

 description of the Nashport specimens). Published anonymously. 



Castoroides ohioensis Foster, Second Rep. Geol. of Ohio, 1838, 81, and fig. (Nasbport specimens). — Wyman, 

 Proc. Bost. Soc.,ii, 1846, 138 (Clyde specimens).— Hall, Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., ii, 1846, 167 

 (Clyde specimens ; geological position). — Hall and Wyman, Boston Journ. Nat. Hist., v, 

 1847, 385, pis. xxxvii-xxxix (Clyde specimens ; geological position and description of a 

 skull). — Whittlesey, Am. Journ. Sci. & Arts, 2d ser., v, 1848, 215 (geological position of the 

 Nashport specimens). — Wyman, ibid., x, 1850, 62, fig. 5 (lower jaw ; Memphis specimen). — 

 Wyman, Proc. Bost. Soc, iii, 1850, 281 (same). — Agassiz, Proc. Amer. Assoc. Adv. Sci., v, 1851, 

 179 (Nashport specimens).— LeConte, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., vi, 1852, 362 (Shawneetown 

 specimens).— Bronn, Leth. Geog., 1857, 1046, pi. lix, fig. 8.— Pictet, Traite' de Paleont., i, 

 1853, 253.— Baird, Mam. N. Amer., 1857, 362.— Leidy, Holmes's Post-pliocene Fossils S. Car., 

 1860, 114 ; Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1867, 97 ; Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 2d ser., v, 1869, 

 405 (skull from Coles County, Illinois). — Winchell, Amer. Nat., iv, 1870, 504 (Michigan). 



Castor (Trogontherium?) ohioensis DeKay, Nat. Hist. N. York, Zool., i, 1842, 89. 



DESCRIPTION AND HISTORY. 



The so-called " Fossil Beaver " of North America was of about the 

 size of a full-grown common Black Bear ( Vrsus americanus), hence some- 

 what exceeding in size the Capybara, the largest of existing Rodents. 



* Boston Journ. Nat. Hist., vol. v, p. 399. 



t Even Mr. E. R. Alston, in bis recent paper on " The Classification of the Order Glires " (Proc. 

 Zool. Soc. Lond., 1876, p. 79), places Castoroides in the family Castoridw. 



{The following are the titles of, or references to, some of the special papers treating of Castoroides : 

 1837— [Foster (J. W.). Extinct Animal of the Order Rodentia.] < Amer. Journ. Sci and Arts, xxxi, 



1837, 80, figs. 15-17. 

 1838— Foster (J. W.). [Description of Castoroides Ohioensis.] < Second Rep. Geol. of Ohio, 1838, 



80-83, fig. 140. 

 1846— Wyman (J.). [On Castoroides Ohioensis.] Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., ii, pp. 138, 139. 

 1846— Hall (J.). [Ou the Geological Relations of the Fossil Castoroides Ohioensis.] < Proc. Bost. Soc. 



Nat. Hist., ii, pp. 167, 168. 

 1847 — Hall (J.) and Wyman (J.). Notice of the Geological Position of the Cranium of the Castoroides 



Ohioensis. By James Hall, esq. . . . Also an Anatomical Description of the same. By 



Jeffries Wyman. < Bost. Journ. Nat. Hist., vol. v, art. xxix, pp. 385-401, pll. 37-39. 

 1850— Wyman (J.). [OnaLower Jaw of Castoroides Ohioensis.] < Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., iii, p. 281. 

 1852 — LeConte (J.). [Remarks on a New Locality — Shawneetown — for Castoroides Ohioensis.] < Proc. 



Phila. Acad. Nat. Sci., vi, p. 53. 

 1867— Leidy (J.). [On a Skull of Castoroides found near Charleston, 111.] < Proc. Phila. Acad. Nat. 



Sci., 1867, pp. 97, 98. 



