The basic units of beaver social organization are families consisting of an adult male and adult female in a monogamous pair and their kits and yearlings.
Beaver families can have as many as ten members in addition to the monogamous pair.
Groups this size or close to this size build more lodges to live in while smaller families usually need only one.
However, large families in the Northern Hemisphere have been recorded living in one lodge.
Beaver pairs mate for life; however, if a beaver's mate dies, it will partner with another one.
Extra-pair copulations also occur.
In addition to being monogamous, both the male and female take part in raising offspring.
They also both mark and defend the territory and build and repair the dam and lodge.
When young are born, they spend their first month in the lodge and their mother is the primary caretaker while their father maintains the territory.
In the time after they leave the lodge for the first time, yearlings will help their parents build food caches in the fall and repair dams and lodges.
Still, adults do the majority of the work and young beavers help their parents for reasons based on natural selection rather than kin selection.
They are dependent on them for food and for learning life skills.
Young beavers spend most of their time playing but also copy their parents' behavior.
However, while copying behavior helps imprint life skills in young beavers, it is not necessarily immediately beneficial for parents as the young beaver do not perform the tasks as well as the parents.

Older offspring, which are around two years old, may also live in families and help their parents.
In addition to helping build food caches and repairing the dam, two-year-olds will also help in feeding, grooming and guarding younger offspring.
Beavers also practice alloparental care, in which an older sibling may take over the parenting duties if the original parents die or are otherwise separated from them.
This behavior is common and is seen in many other animal species, such as the elephant and fathead minnow.
While these helping two-year-olds help increase the chance of survival for younger offspring, they are not essential for the family, and two-year-olds stay and help their families only if there is a shortage of resources in times of food shortage, high population density, or drought.
When beavers leave their natal territories, they usually do not settle far.
Beavers can recognize their kin by detecting differences in anal gland secretion composition using their keen sense of smell.
Related beavers share more features in their anal gland secretion profile than unrelated beavers.
Being able to recognize kin is important for beaver social behavior, and it causes more tolerant behavior among neighboring beavers.
The basic units of beaver social organization are families consisting of an adult male and adult female in a monogamous pair and their kits and yearlings. Beaver families can have as many as ten members in addition to the monogamous pair. Groups this size or close to this size build more lodges to live in while smaller families usually need only one. However, large families in the Northern Hemisphere have been recorded living in one lodge. Beaver pairs mate for life; however, if a beaver's mate dies, it will partner with another one. Extra-pair copulations also occur. In addition to being monogamous, both the male and female take part in raising offspring. They also both mark and defend the territory and build and repair the dam and lodge. When young are born, they spend their first month in the lodge and their mother is the primary caretaker while their father maintains the territory. In the time after they leave the lodge for the first time, yearlings will help their parents build food caches in the fall and repair dams and lodges. Still, adults do the majority of the work and young beavers help their parents for reasons based on natural selection rather than kin selection. They are dependent on them for food and for learning life skills. Young beavers spend most of their time playing but also copy their parents' behavior. However, while copying behavior helps imprint life skills in young beavers, it is not necessarily immediately beneficial for parents as the young beaver do not perform the tasks as well as the parents.
Older offspring, which are around two years old, may also live in families and help their parents. In addition to helping build food caches and repairing the dam, two-year-olds will also help in feeding, grooming and guarding younger offspring. Beavers also practice alloparental care, in which an older sibling may take over the parenting duties if the original parents die or are otherwise separated from them. This behavior is common and is seen in many other animal species, such as the elephant and fathead minnow. While these helping two-year-olds help increase the chance of survival for younger offspring, they are not essential for the family, and two-year-olds stay and help their families only if there is a shortage of resources in times of food shortage, high population density, or drought. When beavers leave their natal territories, they usually do not settle far. Beavers can recognize their kin by detecting differences in anal gland secretion composition using their keen sense of smell. Related beavers share more features in their anal gland secretion profile than unrelated beavers. Being able to recognize kin is important for beaver social behavior, and it causes more tolerant behavior among neighboring beavers.
Beaver