Related Biomes
Short-faced Bear
Short-faced bear, Arctodus simus
The giant short-faced bear, Arctodus simus, was an extremely large bear that occupied much of North America throughout the Pleistocene. It is often described as the largest Pleistocene land carnivore in North America, although several new studies suggest that this member of the Carnivora family may actually have been an omnivore (Figuerido et al. 2010; Meloro 2011; Sorkin 2006). As with most other large mammals in North America, the short-faced bear went extinct at the end of the Pleistocene. The giant short-faced bear has been subdivided into two subspecies, A. simus yukonensis and A. simus simus, based on extreme differences in body size (Kurten 1967). It has been postulated that the larger subspecies, A. simus yukonensis, was restricted to the northwest portion of the species' range - specifically, Beringia, western Canada and the northwestern U.S. However, as more larger-bodied individuals have been recovered from locations in the southern portion of the giant short-faced bear's range, it has been suggested that the observed variation in body size may be due in part to extreme sexual dimorphism in the species (Schubert 2010). In some locations, males may have weighed almost twice as much as females.
Reconstructed short-faced bear, Arctodus simus, skeleton on display at the Indiana State Museum, Indianapolis.
Height: 1.5 m (5 ft) at shoulder; 3.35 m (11 ft) when standing on hind legs
Weight: Average: 700-800 kg (1540-1760 lbs); Christiansen 1999
Females: 300-400 kg (660-880 lbs); Figuerido et al. 2010
Males: 800-1000 kg (1760-2200 lbs); Figuerido et al. 2010
Physical Description:
The giant short-faced bear was an enormous animal, larger than the modern grizzly or polar bears. It had very long, legs for a bear, and a relatively short body given its height. Its feet were also distinctive in that the toes faced forward rather than inward, as in other bears. As its name suggests, this animal had a short face and broad muzzle with very robust teeth, although recent research suggests that its face may not have been much shorter, proportionally, than its modern relatives (Figueirido et al. 2010).
Based on the distribution of the species during the late Pleistocene, the giant short-faced bear occupied a range of habitats with diverse climatic conditions, including open plains, steppe tundra, boreal forests, open grasslands and subtropical woodlands (Schubert et al. 2010).
Given the strong association between female short-faced bear remains and cave sites, it is likely that the female of this species used caves for denning, particularly during pregnancy (Schubert and Kaufmann 2003).
Arctodus simus was widely distributed across the U.S. and Canada during the last Ice Age. Recently, remains of a giant short-faced bear have been recovered from a site in the Appalachian Highlands of western Virginia (Schubert and Wallace 2009) and remains of three individuals have been recovered from two different sites in central Florida (Schubert et al. 2010). The latter find has greatly extended the known range of this animal during the last Ice Age and disproved a long held assumption that the giant short-faced bear had not ventured into the southeastern U.S. during this period (Kurtén and Anderson 1980).
Analysis of a new suite of radiocarbon dates obtained on giant short-faced bear bones confirms that these animals went extinct roughly 11,000 years ago and most likely co-existed with groups of humans from the Clovis culture (Schubert 2010). Reasons for the species' extinction are unclear, but it is generally accepted that the extinction of larger prey species and increased competition from other species, such as brown bears or even humans, played a role in the disappearance of the giant short-faced bear during the Pleistocene/Holocene transition.
Giant short-faced bear remains have been recovered from several cave sites in the Ozark Plateau of Missouri and Arkansas as well as from Indiana and Ohio. Recently, the remains of a short-faced bear were recovered from a farm in southwest Iowa.
- New research suggests that the Short-Faced bear may not have been short faced after all! (Figueirido et al. 2010)
- A. simus was possibly the largest Pleistocene land carnivore in North America
Barnes, I., P. Matheus, B. Shapiro, D. Jensen, and A. Cooper. 2002. Dynamics of Pleistocene population extinctions in Beringian brown bears. Science 295:2267–2270.
Baryshnikov, G., Agenbroad, L. D., Mead, J.I.,1994. Carnivores from the mammoth site, Hot Springs, South Dakota. In: Agenbroad, L.D., Mead, J.I. (Eds.), The Hot Springs Mammoth Site. Fenske Printing Inc, Rapid City, South Dakota, pp. 306–358.
Bocherens, H., S. D. Emslie, D. Billiou, and A. Mariotti. 1995. Stable isotopes (13C, 15N) and paleodiet of the giant short-faced bear (Arctodus simus). Comptes rendus de l’Academie des sciences Paris, 320:779–784.
Christiansen, P. 1999. What size were Arctodus simus and Ursus spelaeus (Carnivora: Ursidae)? Annales Zoologici Fennici, 36:93–102.
Emslie, S. D. and N. J. Czaplewski. 1985. A new record of the giant short-faced bear, Arctodus simus, from western North America with reevaluation of its palaeobiology. Contributions in Science, 371:1–12.
Kurtén, B. 1967. Pleistocene bears of North America, II: Genus Arctodus, short-faced bears. Acta Zoologica Fennica 117:1–60.
Kurtén, B., and E. Anderson. 1980. Pleistocene Mammals of North America. Columbia University Press, New York.
Meloro, C. 2011. Feeding habits of Plio-Pleistocene large carnivores as revealed by the mandibular geometry. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 31(2):428-446.
Schubert, B. 2010. Late Quaternary chronology and extinction of North American giant short-faced bears (Arctodus simus). Quaternary International 217: 188–194.
Schubert, B. and J. Kaufmann. 2003. A partial short-faced bear skeleton from an Ozark cave with comments on the paleobiology of the species. Journal of Cave and Karst Studies 65(2): 101-110.
Schubert, B. and S. Wallace 2009. Late Pleistocene giant short-faced bears, mammoths, and large carcass scavenging in the Saltville Valley of Virginia, USA. Boreas, DOI 10.1111/j.1502-3885.2009.00090.x.
Schubert, Blaine W., Richard C. Hulbert, Jr., Bruce J. Macfadden, Michael Searle, and Seina Searle. 2010. Giant Short-Faced Bears (Arctodus Simus) in Pleistocene Florida USA, a Substantial Range Extension. Journal of Paleontology, 84:79–87.
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