After discovering a new species, researchers from the University of Texas at Austin have named it ‘Anchitheriomys buceei’ or ‘A. buceei’ in honor of Buc-ee’s, Texas’s popular rest stop. The new species lived along the Texas Gulf Coast between 15 and 22 million years ago and was described in a paper by Steve May, a research associate at UT Jackson of Geosciences, which was published in the Palaeontologia Electronica journal.
May said that the name was inspired by the beaver’s Texas connection and the slogan on Buc-ee’s billboard that reads ‘This is Beaver country.’ He further added that the fossils suggest that it was ‘beaver country’ for millions of years.
The A. buceei species was 30% larger than the modern beavers currently found in the region, according to a report by Fox News. Most of the fossils were reconstructed using a partial skull found in Burkeville, which was a fusion of a bone and brain cast created when sediment seeped into the beaver’s brain cavity, creating a rock replica of the brain as the species fossilized. Co-authors May and Mathew Brown used high-resolution X-ray images of the skull to identify new anatomical details that confirmed it as a new species.
Following the announcement of the species name, Buc-ee’s CEO and founder Arch ‘Beaver’ Aplin III humorously commented that the discovery could prompt them to reconsider the origins of the company, which was founded in 1982. Buc-ee’s is well-known in Texas, and even its official Twitter account acknowledged the naming of the new species.
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