CASTOROIDIDA—CASTOROIDES—C. OHIOENSIS. 423 
.... In the Fibers, the pterygoid fossee 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 zodlogists have so long overlooked the 
important characters that distinguish Castoroides from all other Rodents.+ 
CASTOROIDES OHIOENSIS Foster. 
SYNONYMY.} 
[Extinct anima: 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. (Nashport specimens).—WYMAN, 
R Proce. Bost. Soc.,ii, 1846, 138 (Clyde specimens).— HALL, Proce. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., ii, 1846, 167 
(Clyde specimens; geological position)—Hatt and Wyman, Boston Journ. Nat. Hist., v, 
1847, 385, pls. 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. Ady. Sci., v, 1851, 
179 (Nashport specimens).—LECONTE, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., vi, 1852, 362 (Shawneetown 
specimens).—BRONN, Leth. Geog., 1857, 1046, pl. lix, fig. 8—Picrer, Traité de Paléont., i, 
1853, 253.—BarrD, Mam. N. Amer., 1857, 362.—Lxrrpy, 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)—WuINcHELL, Amer. Nat., iv, 1870, 504 (Michigan). 
Castor (Trogontherium?) ohioensis DEKay, Nat. Hist. N. York, Zo6l., 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 (Ursus americanus), hence some- 
what exceeding in size the Capybara, the largest of existing Rodents. 
* Boston Journ. Nat. Hist., vol. v, p. 399. 
+Even Mr. E. R. Alston, in his recent paper on “The Classification of the Order Glires ” (Proc, 
Zool. Soc. Lond., 1876, p.79), places Castoroides in the family Castoride. 
¢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—Wryman (J.). [On Castoroides Ohioensis.] Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., ii, pp. 138, 159. 
1846—Hatt (J.). [On the Geological Relations of the Fossil Castoroides Ohioensis.] < Proc. Bost. Soc. 
Nat. Hist., ii, pp. 167, 168. 
1847—Hat1 (J.) and Wyman (J.). Notice of the Geological Position of the Cranium of the Castoroides 
Ohbioensis. 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, pli. 37-39. 
1850—WyYMAN (J.). [On a Lower Jaw of Castoroides Ohioensis.] < Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., iii, p. 281. 
1852—LEConrxE (J.). [Remarks on a New Locality—Shawneetown—for Castoroides Ohioensis.] < Proc. 
Phila. Acad. Nat. Sci., vi, p. 53. : 
1867—Leipy (J.). [On a Skull of Castoroides found near Charleston, Ill.] < Proc. Phila. Acad. Nat. 
Sci., 1867, pp. 97, 98. 
