Fungi > Basidiomycota > Agaricomycetes > Hysterangiales > Mesophelliaceae > Castoreum

Castoreum

Wikipedia Abstract

Castoreum /kæsˈtɔːriəm/ is the exudate from the castor sacs of the mature North American Beaver (Castor canadensis) and the European Beaver (Castor fiber). Castoreum is the yellowish secretion of the castor sac. Beavers use castoreum in combination with urine to scent mark territory. Both beaver sexes have a pair of castor sacs and a pair of anal glands, located in two cavities under the skin between the pelvis and the base of the tail. The castor sacs are not true glands (endocrine or exocrine) on a cellular level, hence references to these structures as preputial glands or castor glands are misnomers. Castor sacs are a type of scent gland.
View Wikipedia Record: Castoreum

Species

External References

Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0