Behold the beaver! Drive is on to make prehistoric giant Minnesota’s official fossil
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Paleontologist Alex Hastings held up a fossilized animal skull and showed it off to a couple of Girl Scouts who passed through Bad Weather Brewing on a cookie sales mission to the taproom’s patrons on a sunny weekend day.
The giant beaver skull is several times larger than the beavers that roam Minnesota today. Hastings told the curious onlookers that the prehistoric creature was the size of a black bear and tapped in at 200 pounds.
“So the giant beaver lived about 12,000 years ago here in the cities to about 10,000 years ago, and it is a good choice for our state. Of course, beavers, the modern beaver is still very widespread across the state. It’s an important part of our ecology here,” Hastings said.
Hastings and others from the Science Museum of Minnesota are working to raise awareness about the giant beaver and about their effort to make it the state’s official fossil. While Minnesota has a variety of state symbols, ranging from a bird to a flag to a muffin to a state beverage, it’s among a handful of states that hasn’t adopted an official state fossil.
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The giant beaver fossils are part of the science museum’s collection and they were discovered in Minnesota. Hastings said that makes them a good fit.
“What’s really fun about the giant beaver is that it would have actually been around when the first people were settling into Minnesota,” Hastings said. “So the first inhabitants in this land would have been encountering the giant beaver.”
A few years ago, the Minnesota Science Museum asked people to vote on which fossil should be the official one. Hastings proudly notes the giant beaver was the overwhelming winner.
The bill to designate the giant beaver as the official fossil isn’t even the only one about beavers this session. There’s also legislation to permit human consumption of beavers of the non-giant variety. The two proposals are unrelated.
Unfortunately for University of Minnesota fans, Hastings said gophers don’t date back far enough to meet the criteria for a fossil, so another giant rodent should fit the bill.
“I don’t know of any dated gophers that go back that far, but we do have dated beavers that go back that far,” he said. “And why can’t we get love for all rodents here in Minnesota and not just gophers?”
Joseph Giambruno, who co-owns Bad Weather Brewing, said he heard about the museum’s effort to recognize the giant beaver as the state fossil and wanted to do something to help. So he brewed a beer in collaboration with the museum.
“It’s a black IPA, it has some roasted chocolate malt characteristics. The hops we chose are more on the piney side, so kind of like you’re chewing on a pine tree, like a beaver would do,” Giambruno said.
Hastings said the name — Epoch Beaver — also has deeper meaning.
“It’s spelled E, P, O, C, H, that’s epoch, as in, like the Pleistocene, the Ice Age, epoch. And it’s a really nice new black IPA,” he said.
Giambruno said it’s his first foray trying to sway policymakers with his brews.
“We’ve had folks out for different charity events and certain things,” Giambruno said. “But this is the first time we’re working with someone to lobby lawmakers.”
Kelsea Gilliland, of Minneapolis, said she was sold on the new beer and the policy proposal. She sent an email to her legislator to encourage them to pass it.
“I think it would be fun if I could be a part of it, and I don't want to get left out,” she said. “I think our state should have a state fossil.”
Rep. Andrew Myers, R-Tonka Bay, will take all the help he can get making it law.
“Maybe it’s not something that's a high priority for a lot of people, but if we can get enough support, maybe we can, you know, get it across the line,” Myers said.
While the bill has a ways to go, he’s hopeful the nod to Minnesota’s prehistoric past will bring legislators together.
