It is hard to guess what a North American beaver weights. But we have the answer:
An adult North American beaver (Castor canadensis) on average weights 18.11 kg (39.93 lbs).
The North American beaver is from the family Castoridae (genus: Castor). It is usually born with about 415 grams (0.91 lbs). They can live for up to 15 years. When reaching adult age, they grow up to 75.7 cm (2′ 6″). On average, North American beavers can have babies 1 times per year with a litter size of 3.
As a reference: An average human weights in at 62 kg (137 lbs) and reaches an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″). Humans spend 280 days (40 weeks) in the womb of their mother and reach around 75 years of age.
The North American beaver (Castor canadensis) is one of two extant beaver species (the other being the Eurasian beaver, Castor fiber). It is native to North America and introduced in South America (Patagonia) and Europe (primarily Finland and Karelia). In the United States and Canada, the species is often referred to simply as “beaver”, though this causes some confusion because another distantly related rodent, Aplodontia rufa, is often called the “mountain beaver”. Other vernacular names, including American beaver and Canadian beaver, distinguish this species from the other extant beaver species, Castor fiber, which is native to Eurasia. The North American beaver is an official animal symbol of Canada and is the official state mammal of Oregon.
Animals of the same family as a North American beaver
We found other animals of the Castoridae family:
- Eurasian beaver bringing 19 kilos (41.89 lbs) to the scale
Animals with the same weight as a North American beaver
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Castor canadensis:
- Gray brocket with a weight of 16.63 kilos (36.66 lbs)
- Common duiker with a weight of 15.57 kilos (34.33 lbs)
- Cameroon clawless otter with a weight of 21.6 kilos (47.62 lbs)
- Pygmy brocket with a weight of 16.5 kilos (36.38 lbs)
- Oribi with a weight of 17.16 kilos (37.83 lbs)
- Speke’s gazelle with a weight of 20 kilos (44.09 lbs)
- Eurasian beaver with a weight of 19 kilos (41.89 lbs)
- Little red brocket with a weight of 21.05 kilos (46.41 lbs)
- Eurasian lynx with a weight of 19.3 kilos (42.55 lbs)
- Four-horned antelope with a weight of 19.19 kilos (42.31 lbs)
Animals with the same size as a North American beaver
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as North American beaver:
- Fossa (animal) with a size of 72.7 cm (2′ 5″)
- Culpeo with a size of 72 cm (2′ 5″)
- Pampas fox with a size of 62.2 cm (2′ 1″)
- Golden snub-nosed monkey with a size of 64.7 cm (2′ 2″)
- Silvery gibbon with a size of 67.6 cm (2′ 3″)
- Eastern grey kangaroo with a size of 87.7 cm (2′ 11″)
- Caracal with a size of 74.1 cm (2′ 6″)
- Thomson’s gazelle with a size of 88.5 cm (2′ 11″)
- Black-footed mongoose with a size of 61.3 cm (2′ 1″)
- Red fox with a size of 62.9 cm (2′ 1″)
Animals with the same litter size as a North American beaver
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (3) as a North American beaver:
- Griselda’s striped grass mouse
- Cape golden mole
- Oryzomys couesi
- Hog badger
- California chipmunk
- Alpine pine vole
- Tasmanian pygmy possum
- Abert’s squirrel
- Cape gerbil
- Lesser mole-rat
Animals with the same life expectancy as a North American beaver
Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a North American beaver:
- Red forest duiker with an average maximal age of 15 years
- Oribi with an average maximal age of 15.75 years
- Prince Demidoff’s bushbaby with an average maximal age of 14 years
- Red squirrel with an average maximal age of 12 years
- Pallas’s squirrel with an average maximal age of 16.08 years
- Southern tree hyrax with an average maximal age of 12.25 years
- Greater dwarf lemur with an average maximal age of 15 years
- European pine marten with an average maximal age of 17 years
- Grant’s gazelle with an average maximal age of 12.67 years
- Santarem marmoset with an average maximal age of 15 years