Until when did beavers historically inhabit the Iberian Peninsula? The importance of consulting primary sources to avoid errors in historical ecology

ABSTRACT

Traditionally, it has been accepted that Eurasian beavers (Castor fiber) became extinct in the Iberian Peninsula in the seventeenth century, although some authors delay this until the eighteenth or even the nineteenth century. In our study, we reviewed all published materials, documentaries, and toponymic references known to date on the occurrence of Eurasian beavers in the Iberian Peninsula from the Roman period or later. After review, only one documentary evidence undoubtedly refers to a beaver, although it is not a direct reference; only two of the material evidences are unequivocally beavers, although only one has a zooarchaeological study and the local origin of the other has been questioned; the two toponymic evidences are inferences, so they are not direct evidence. With the data currently available, it is possible that there were beavers on the Iberian Peninsula during early Roman times (fitst to second century B.C.). The lack of direct documentary or material evidence does not allow confirmation of their presence later. References to the presence of beavers until more recent dates are a product of a misquotation from an ancient source. We highlight the importance of reviewing primary sources in historical ecology.

KEYWORDS:

• Castor fiber
• Spain
• Portugal
• material evidence
• documentary evidence
• misquotation

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the Document Delivery Service (SURAD) under the Scientific Information Resources for Research Unit (CSIC-URICI) and, in particular, Amparo Llorente, for their help in searching for old documents. Javier Calzada, Marcello D’Amico and Miguel Clavero revised an earlier version of the manuscript. Isla Botting kindly reviewed the English.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).