Beavers

[Vishal Agarwal]

Dr. Witzel exclaimed: "It is amazing  how some on this list manage, TIME AND
AGAIN (emphasis VA's), to
misunderstand/misinterpret simple sentences and/or their context.

VA responds: It is rather strange that the listmaster does not pay attention
to the condenscending remarks of birds of the same tree. The apparent cause
of the ire of the Professor is caused obviously because his theory has been
shown to be a mere speculation (and can be easily extended to areas within
India as well) and that his appeal to the authority of Grzimek was proven a
misrepresentation, when I checked the original sources. As for the
supposedly linked forested areas and ranges radiating from the Pamirs, it
should be noted that the forests of Northern Georgia in the US are also
conterminous with other forests that contain Beavers. And yet Beavers do not
occur in most of GA according to Grzimek, even after all the Beaver
protection laws have been in effect for several years (and have seen the
creature come back in other parts of the continent). As someone who has
toured the N. Georgia extensively on hiking, I can see that the region
provides a very good habitat for this creature. It is unclear if any of the
13 or so species of Beavers ever lived in most of Georgia or Florida. In
short, if Beavers occured in Central Asia in 2000 BCE, we cannot discount
the possibility that they occured in some parts of North India as well.

Dr. Witzel informed: "Similarly, my 130 years old
encyclopedia mentions the beaver between 33* N and 68* N;  33*N  is the
SOUTHERN (not today's northern)  beaver boundary in Spain, and it includes
N. Persia / Afghanistan  etc."
VA asks: I am curious to know if the enclyopedia actually has a map. Because
Grzimek and others also show Beaver territory right up to the Pyrenees in
Europe but the southern boundary is much, much more north as we move east
into Asia. Furthermore, in N America, the Beaver territory actually extends
further south to 27* N or so, even though these areas are very arid. None of
the books mention Central Asia as the region where Beavers occured in
historical times.



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