Castoroides Arizonensis—the Beaver Skull by the High Desert Lake in Prescott, Arizona
It has been a warm and dry winter in the Arizona high desert. Although my dog feels more comfortable with long trips in the snow, he still enjoys trips to a nearby lake where he can attempt to disturb the peace of sitting ducks. Last week end he put his nose into the soft dirt of the lake shore and started digging. When I checked what he was doing I saw a small skull where he had dug. I immediately noticed an orange incisive and knew it was the skull of a beaver. So, as a team, we dug a bit and I took the skull out. It was filled with wet clay and only one orange incisive was still in the lower jaw. I was about to put things back where they belonged when my dog looked at me and continued to dig. We ended up with the jaw, the skull and three additional incisives, mostly chipped or broken. Since I had not worked with a beaver skull, and since this one seemed well preserved, I decided to make it my next reconstruction project. Here is the skull, lower j...
