Prodipoides lecontei

Systematics:  Mammalia Rodentia Castoridae Castoroidinae
Size: ? 30 cm long
Type Horizon and Locality: Late Miocene, Siesta Formation (Clarendonian) Contra Costa County, California, US
Type Specimen: UCMP 5002, partial skull

Prodipoides lecontei was a small beaver, about half the size of its modern counterpart, that lived during the Late Miocene period in the Western part of North America. The first specimen, a fragmentary skull, was found in the hills between the city of Berkeley and Orinda. Others specimens were found elsewhere in California and Nevada. The species was originally described as Sigmogomphius Le Contei, before being folded into the genus Eucastor. More recently, the genus Eucastor was restricted to the type species E. tortus, while the other species were transferred into a new genus, Prodipoides. Prodipoides did not have the tooth-digging adaptation of Eucastor and modern beavers but was probably semiaquatic as the fossils were found in layers associated to fluviatile environments.

November 3, 2019

References:

Merriam, J. C. (1896). Sigmogomphius Le Contei, a New Castoroid Rodent from the Pliocene, Near Berkeley, California. Bulletin of the Department of Geology, 1(13) 363-370 (University of California Press)

Korth, W. W. (2007). A New Genus of Beaver (Rodentia, Castoridae) from the Miocene (Clarendonian) of North America and Systematics of the Castoroidinae based on Comparative cranial Anatomy. Annals of Carnegie Museum, 76(2), 117-135.

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