The Beaver
Beginning of paper
Beaver, semiaquatic mammal noted for the building of dams. One species of beaver occurs in North America, the other in Eurasia. The two species differ chiefly in the shape of the nasal bones and are so much alike that some authorities consider them to be varieties of the same species. They are larg ....
Middle of paper
.... The skull is massive, with marked ridges for fixing the muscles that work the jaws. The two front teeth on either jaw are like those of other rodents, wearing away more rapidly behind so as to leave a sharp, enameled chisel edge. With these can cut down large trees. It usually selects trees 5 to 20 cm (2 to 8 in) in diameter, but it can fell trees with diameters as large as 76 cm (30 in). Beavers have a pair of anal scent glands, called castors, that secrete a musklike substance called casto ....
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Word count: 883
Page count: 4 (approximately 250 words per page)
