Beaver Eurasian

Recently, Rosell and Sundsdal [78] tentatively identified 21 of the 43 constituents present in 96 scent marks deposited directly on snow or ice mounds by the Eurasian beaver, C. fiber. In this study, a higher final oven temperature was employed and several steroids were eluted from the capillary column. Because the main focus of this study was to determine whether the beaver uses castoreum and/or anal gland secretion for scent marking and not the full chem-... 

Unlike most terrestrial mammals, beavers maintain territories along a line following watercourses. Both species, the Eurasian beaver, C. fiber, and the North American beaver, C. canadensis, dredge up mud from the bottom of their home pond, carry it on land, deposit it, and apply a scent mark on top of this mud... 

Linearly arranged territories, as those of beaver, C. canadensis and C. fiber, along a stream require yet another marking pattern. Trespassing conspecifics are expected to arrive along the watercourse, not usually overland. Therefore, if directed at potential invaders, marking is expected to be particularly intense at the up- and downstream ends of the territory, and less along the banks. Eurasian beavers mark indeed more heavily at territorial borders, and especially at the upstream limit of their territory (Rosell etal., 1998). 

Rosell, F. and Bjprkpyli, T. (2002). A test of the dear enemy phenomenon in the Eurasian beaver. Animal Behaviour63,1073-1078. 

Rosell, F., Bergan, F., and Parker, H. (1998). Scent marking in the Eurasian beaver [Castor fiber) as a means of territory defense. Journal of Chemical Ecology 24, 207-219. 

Resell F, Nolet BA (1997) Factors affecting scent-marking behavior in Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber). J Chem Ecol 23 673-689... 

Rosell, F., and Sundsdal, L.J., 2001, Odorant source used in Eurasian beaver territory marking, J. Chem. Ecol. 27 2471-2491. 

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