Arctodus simus (Cope, 1879)
Systematics: Mammalia Ferae Carnivora Caniformia Ursidae Tremarctinae
Size: 1.80 m at shoulder height
Type Horizon and Locality: Late Pleistocene, Rancholabrean mammal zone, Shasta County, California, US
Type Specimen: UCMP 17754, a skull
Type Horizon and Locality: Late Pleistocene, Rancholabrean mammal zone, Shasta County, California, US
Type Specimen: UCMP 17754, a skull
The giant short-faced bear (Arctodus simus) was one of the largest land predator that ever existed. Neither a super-predator nor a strict scavenger, it was most probably an opportunistic omnivore like modern brown bears. Fossils of Arctodus simus have been reported throughout North America, especially in California. The closest living relative of the short-faced bear is the spectacled bear (Tremarctos ornatus) from South America.
July 12, 2021
References:
Richards, R. L., Churcher, C. S., & Turnbull, W. D. (2019). Distribution and size variation in North American short-faced bears, Arctodus simus. In Palaeoecology and Palaeoenvironments of Late Cenozoic Mammals (pp. 191-246). University of Toronto Press.
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