# Mountain beaver (*Aplodontia rufa*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/mountain-beaver  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

The mountain beaver (Aplodontia rufa) is a living rodent in the family Aplodontiidae, suborder Sciuromorpha, order Rodentia, and is also called showte, boomer, gehalis, sewellel and showhurll. It is a terrestrial, cathemeral herbivore of forest habitats whose main food is fern. It falls in the medium size class, with a representative adult body mass of 1.004 kg. Gestation lasts from 28 to 30 days, with one litter per year of 2.8 young, and sexual maturity comes at 2.1 years.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 706.8 g – 1 kg |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Lifespan | 6 years – 10 years |
| Diet | Herbivore |
| Main food | fern |
| Habitat | forest |
| Gestation | 28 days – 30 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 2.8 |
| Age at maturity | 2.11 years |
| Litters or clutches a year | 1 |
| Active | Day and night (cathemeral) |
| Lifestyle | Terrestrial |
| Conservation status | Not recorded |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Mammalia
- order: Rodentia
- family: Aplodontiidae
- genus: Aplodontia
- species: *Aplodontia rufa* (Rafinesque, 1817)

Synonyms: *Anisonyx rufa*

## Common questions

### What kind of animal is the mountain beaver?

The mountain beaver is a mammal, a rodent in the family Aplodontiidae and suborder Sciuromorpha.

### What does the mountain beaver eat?

The mountain beaver is a herbivore, and its main food is fern.

### How heavy is a mountain beaver?

A representative adult mountain beaver weighs 1.004 kg, and the lowest adult body mass reported is 706.8 g.

### How long does a mountain beaver live?

The mountain beaver has a lifespan of 6 years, with values up to 10 years reported.

### How many young does a mountain beaver have?

The mountain beaver has 2.8 young per litter and one litter per year, after a gestation of 28 to 30 days.

### What habitat does the mountain beaver live in?

The mountain beaver lives in forest habitats and is terrestrial.

### What are other names for the mountain beaver?

Other English names for the mountain beaver are showte, boomer, gehalis, sewellel and showhurll.

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), CC0 1.0, E096-269. Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
- [Catalogue of Life eXtended Release](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), CC BY 4.0, 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
- [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org), per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed), 2026-11-11. Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence).
- [EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1), CC0 1.0, 1.0. Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), CC BY-SA 4.0, 2026-11-11. Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).

Cite as: Mountain beaver (Aplodontia rufa). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/mountain-beaver