Fossil bear skeleton
Place Collected(Object)
: North America, USA, Alaska Dimensions:length=291; width=131; height=144 cm
Taxonomy
- Attributes
- Objects
- Taxonomy
- Kingdom:
Animalia
- Phylum:
Chordata
- Class:
Mammalia
- Order:
Carnivora
- Family:
Ursidae
- Genus:
Arctodus
- SpecificEpithet:
simus
Object number: ROMVP55367
Credit Line: Gift of the Louise Hawley Stone Charitable Trust
Gallery Location:Reed Family Gallery of the Age of Mammals, Ice Ages, Horse, Arctodus
DescriptionThe extinct bear Arctodus was the largest land carnivore in North America during the Ice Ages. It was also larger than any living bear. Its teeth indicate that it was a meat-eater, while its long, slender legs suggest that it was a running animal - a formidable predator. Presumably it fed on large plant-eating mammals such as horses or camels, and when these species disappeared about 10,000 to 12,000 years ago, so did Arctodus.
