ORDER RODENTIA: RODENTS 199 



range of the species. According to Millais (1905, p. 161), it was 

 found even "as far east as Behring Straits." Kriiger states (1931, 

 pp. 52-53) that it once ranged from the Urals to the Pacific Coast, 

 but that the white examples with yellowish backs on the farther 

 side of the Urals probably have not survived, and that there are 

 reports of the complete extirpation of the species in Siberia. Ac- 

 cording, however, to W. G. Heptner (in litt., December, 1936), it 

 exists on the Rivers Konda and Sosva and their tributaries in the 

 Ob Basin. 



""Schrenck (1859) reported the Beaver from Sakhalin, and he is 

 quoted as authority by Aoki (1913, p. 298) and by Hatta (1928, 

 p. 1036). The record is questioned, however, by Kuroda (1928, 

 p. 224) , who calls attention to the lack of specimens. 



The paucity of beaver records from the Siberian wilderness sug- 

 gests that the animal may never have been very abundant or thor- 

 oughly distributed over that country. Perhaps the Siberian taiga, 

 with its predominant coniferous growth, does not provide a sufficient 

 quantity of the Beaver's favorite food trees, such as the aspen and 

 other deciduous species, to support the animal in large numbers. 



Turkey, Syria, and Iraq. Danford and Alston (1880, p. 60) give 

 an unsubstantiated report of a beaverlike animal in the marshes 

 between Kaisariyeh and Indjesu, Turkey. They also cite reports by 

 Heifer and Heifer (1879) of Beavers on the Euphrates near Aleppo, 

 and by Schmarda (1853) in Mesopotamia. 



Persia. "The beaver, according to Eichwald, is common in the 

 Araxes .... I insert it in the Persian fauna with some doubts." 

 (Blanford, 1876, p. 51.) The above-mentioned report from the 

 Araxes is categorically denied by later authors (Satunin, 1906, 

 p. 374). 



Mongolia. In the upper Yenisei Basin, Tannu-Tuva, "a few 

 beavers still exist in the upper tributaries of the Bei-Kem; but 

 they are very rare, and their skins are seldom brought down to 

 the markets. In old days they were mentioned as being included 

 in a tribute sent by the Khan of the Ubsa region, then paramount 

 chief of the Uriankhai tribes, to the Czar of Russia." (Carruthers, 

 1913, p. 228.) 



The species "still exists . . . , it is said, in the highest tribu- 

 taries of the Black Irtish in the Mongolian Altai" (Carruthers, 1913, 

 pp. 630-631). 



Manchuria. "An animal recorded by Schrenck, but which does 

 not appear to belong to the Manchurian fauna, is the beaver (Castor 

 fiber) . It is true that skins of this animal have been secured from 

 the natives in the Amur region, and that they find their way to the 

 fur market in such places as Harbin and Mukden in Manchuria, but 

 recent investigation tends to show that these skins have been brought 



