What is Beaver?
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2020}} {{Automatic taxobox | name =Beaver | fossil_range =Late [[Miocene]]{{snd}}Recent | image =American Beaver.jpg | image_caption =[[North American beaver]] (''Castor canadensis'') | taxon =Castor | authority =[[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|1758]] | subdivision_ranks=Species | subdivision = ''[[North American beaver|C. canadensis]]'' – North American beaver{{break}} ''[[Eurasian beaver|C. fiber]]'' – Eurasian beaver{{break}}†''[[Castor californicus|C. californicus]]''{{break}} †''[[Castor praefiber|C. praefiber]]''{{break}} †''[[Castor neglectus|C. neglectus]]'' | range_map=Castor range.png | range_map_caption=Range of the living beavers as of 2016 (including introduced ''C. canadensis'' populations in Europe and Patagonia, but missing ''C. fiber'' populations in Mongolia and northwestern China, as well as reintroduced populations in the United Kingdom) }} A '''beaver''' is large [[rodent]]. It is ''semi-aquatic'': some of the time it lives in [[water]], some of the time it lives on land. Beavers are only found in [[North America]] and [[Europe]]. In [[Great Britain]], for example, they have been deliberately re-introduced. In Europe, they almost died off, but they are returning. There are beavers living in the [[Elbe]] and [[Rhone]] [[river]]s, as well as in [[Bavaria]], [[Poland]] and [[Scandinavia]]. Beavers are known for building and keeping [[dam]]s in [[river]]s. Their dams slow down rivers and reduce erosion. The [[Wetland|wetlands]] they create benefit many other species. Special arrangements are needed to let [[salmon]] and other [[migratory]] fish pass the dams to spawn. == Kinds of beavers == There are two different [[species]] of beaver, the American beaver (''C. canadensis'') and the European beaver (''C. fiber''). === The American beaver === This beaver is in [[North America]], in [[Canada]], the [[United States]] and in Northern [[Mexico]]. It is the second largest rodent in the world