Beavers are best known for their natural trait of building dams in rivers and streams, and building their homes (known as beaver lodges) in the eventual pond. They are the second-largest rodent in the world (after the capybara).

Beavers continue to grow throughout life. Adult specimens weighing over 25 kg (55 lb) are not uncommon. Females are as large as or larger than males of the same age, which is uncommon among mammals.

The European Beaver was hunted almost to extinction in Europe, both for fur and for castoreum, a secretion of its scent gland believed to have medicinal properties. However, the beaver is now being re-introduced throughout Europe. They were reintroduced in Sweden in 1922. It is now estimated that the population is over 100 000.

North American Giant beaver (Castoroides ohioensis) was one of largest rodents that ever evolved. It disappeared, with other large mammals in the Holocene extinction event, which began about 13,000 years ago.

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