Mountain Beaver

The mountain beaver (Aplodontia rufa) is a North American rodent. It is the only living member of its genus, Aplodontia, and family, Aplodontiidae. It should not be confused with true North American and Eurasian beavers, to which it is not closely related; the mountain beaver is instead more closely related to squirrels. There are seven subspecies of mountain beaver, six of which are found in California and three of which are endemic to the state. == Spelling and etymology == The name Aplodontia ("simple tooth") is in reference to the single large basin comprising the bulk of each cheek tooth. The specific epithet, rufa, means red or reddish. Most references use the spelling "Aplodontidae" for the family name. This has been deemed incorrect due to the technical rules of converting a genus name into a family name. The proper conversion of Aplodontia to a family name is to drop the -a only and add -idae. Thus, Aplodontiidae is technically correct. This spelling is gaining acceptance in modern texts and is the standard spelling currently recognized by the Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Alternate spellings of the genus name have also been reported, with as many as 30 variants historically. These include…