Short face bear

Short faced bear Temporal range: Pleistocene
A 1.6 m tall Short faced bear next to a 1.8 m human.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Family:	Ursidae
Subfamily:	Tremarctinae
Genus:	†Arctodus Leidy, 1854
Species
†Arctodus pristinus †Arctodus simus †Arctodus persica

Short faced bear (Genus: Arctodus) is an extinct animal of prehistoric bears of the subfamily Tremarctinae. Arctodus simus, along with many other large mammals, became extinct during the Pleistocene epoch. It was preceded in time by A. pristinus, an evolutionary cousin or even ancestor of A. simus, proportionally shorter of leg and longer of muzzle.

Diet and Hunting

The Short face bear, at 11 feet when standing, would have been able to kill many of the Pleistocene giant mammals such as the Megatherium, or the many varieties of mammoths. Some scientists propose that the Giant Short Face bear would have been a scavenger, do to the study of its olfactory acuity, which suggests that it could smell meat over 5-6 miles away, and that it couldn't chase down its prey, due to its way of moving. It moves by using the type of movement used by some other mammals, that doesn't enable it to turn during high-speed chases or it would fall. This is also supported by the fact that most predators are opportunistic, and if they are bigger predators than the ones who caught the meat, they will take it by force. This is also supported by a test done in 2007 which confirmed that it had a mixed diet of animals, with no particular prey that it feeds on.

Evolution

Probably due to the abundance of food in the Pleistocene epoch, members of the subfamily of carnivora Tremarctinae, the Short face bear probably evolved from other large bears at the time to fill the open niche of top predator, or as other scientists believe, scavenger. It certainly had the equipment to be a predator. Powerful jaws capable of breaking bone, massive claws and wide arms for grappling and slashing, and an olfactory acuity that is one of the greatest seen in any bear, for smell. All these traits, combined with a height of around 6 feet on all fours at the shoulder and 11 feet while standing, make it one of the greatest carnivorous mammals to walk the earth.

Extinction

At the end of the Pleistocene epoch, probably due to global warming, the ice sheets started receding. With less food to support the giant mammals, they went extinct. Without sufficient prey, specialists like the Smilodon Fatalis or Dire Wolf went extinct. Soon after the Short Faced bear went extinct also.

Popular Media

the Short Faced bear has appeared in many shows on he history channel, including Jurrasic Fight Club, and it has also appeared on the National Geographic Original documentary about these creatures.

Physiology

At least twice the size of a normal grizzly bear, the adult short faced bear could grow to 1.6 meters at the shoulder, and 11 ft. tall. It had a short muzzle, probably the shortest in comparison to to the size of the bear, this is what gave it its name. IT also had a huge olfactory acuity, through which it could sniff out carcasses up to 6 miles away. It has a wide arm span that it could use as a long reach that, with the assistance of its monster claws, would make it extremely dangerous on its hind legs. It also could use its bite to dismember the bowel of prey and to crush its shoulder, subduing it for it to kill it.

See also

• Pleistocene megafauna
• Pleistocene extinctions
• Lost World Caverns

External links

• U. of Alaska Fairbanks: P. Matheus, Ancient fossil offers new clues to brown bears past
• Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre