Arctodus is an extinct genus of large short-faced bear that lived in North America in the Pleistocene.
Description[]
A. simus mount at the Royal Ontario Museum.
Credit: Clumsystiggy on DeviantArt.
There were two species: A. pristinus (the lesser short-faced bear) and A. simus (giant short-faced bear). A. pristinus was smaller than A. simus.
A. pristinus evolved from Plionarctos in the early Pleistocene, then evolved into A. simus. Both species co-existed for a million years, until A. pristinus went extinct 300,000 years ago. A. simus was one of the largest terrestrial predators during its time, and went extinct 12,800 years ago (at the end of the ice age).
Scaling of the snout finds that its snout was not comparatively short, regardless of the common name. Femoral shaft comparisons show that it was also not as long-legged as commonly depicted.
Range[]
While A. pristinus was mostly restricted to eastern North America, A. simus was present in the western contiguous United States. After the extinction of A. pristinus, A. simus spread into eastern Northern America, and extended its western range to Alaska and central Mexico.
Paleobiology[]
Several Cenozoic creatures arranged by their diets. Green are herbivorous, purple are omnivorous, yellow are insectivorous and red are carnivorous.
Short-faced bears size estimations diagram
It is often portrayed as a solitary animal, but its lifestyle is still much under debate. The old views of Arctodus as a hypercarnivore and obligate kleptoparasite are contested by new studies demonstrating physical evidence of herbivory. Arctodus was probably an omnivore with a varied diet across range, size and maybe species.
Paleoecology[]
Contemporary populations of Ursus arctos consumed less flesh than Arctodus in Beringia.
References[]
- https://bear.org/bear-facts/extinct-short-faced-bear/
- https://www.thoughtco.com/giant-short-faced-bear-arctodus-simus-1093085
- https://bear.org/the-giant-short-faced-bear/
- https://nature.ca/notebooks/english/shrtbear.htm
- https://beringia.com/exhibit/ice-age-animals/giant-short-faced-bear
- https://mnh.uiowa.edu/giant-short-faced-bear
- https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/110203-biggest-bear-largest-giant-short-faced-animals-science [Famous Specimens portrayed by National Geographic]
- https://ielc.libguides.com/sdzg/factsheets/extinctshort-facedbear/characteristics
- https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/631982-Arctodus
- https://www.jstor.org/stable/20627694
- https://www.jstor.org/stable/4523425
- https://www.ou.edu/cas/news-updates/2020/Giant-Short-Faced-Bear
- https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249023684_Demythologizing_Arctodus_simus_the_%27Short-Faced%27_Long-Legged_and_Predaceous_Bear_that_Never_Was [a more critical study]
- https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/02724630903416027 [a more critical study]
- https://www.academia.edu/751564 [The study that points toward more Carnivorous diet]
- https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbl.2016.0062 [Convergent Evolution case study]
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0016699517300384
- https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/10.1139/E10-018
- https://www.researchgate.net/publication/250071137_Giant_Short-faced_Bears_Arctodus_simus_in_Pleistocene_Florida_USA_a_Substantial_Range_Extension
- http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=wildlifenews.view_article&articles_id=232