Short-faced bears Fossil range: Middle to Late Pleistocene
Restoration of Arctodus simus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Family:	Ursidae
Subfamily:	Tremarctinae
Genus:	†Arctodus Leidy, 1854
Species
Arctodus simus † Arctodus pristinus †

Arctodus (Name translates as Bear Tooth) — known as the short-faced bear or bulldog bear — is an extinct genus of bear consisting of two known fossil species: Arctodus simus and Arctodus pristinus. They were native to North America during the middle to late Pleistocene epoch. It was thought to be carnivorous, though like modern bears, it was probably not above a meal of any kind. Its bones were long and thin, and it was believed to be able to run up to 50 km/h for short distances.^{[citation needed]} It was a large creature, and likely the apex predator of its day and location. Its large size, combined with the natural toughness of bears, meant that it probably preyed upon the North American megafauna. However, relying on the North American megafauna as its main food source, it disappeared at the same time they did, possibly partly due to competition with humans for the same limited game.

Tremarctos ornatus, the spectacled bear of South America, is the closest living relative of the short-faced bears.

[edit] See also

• Pleistocene megafauna

[edit] References

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