STL Science Center

STL Science Center

15 October 2011

Long Day- Evening Update

A wonderful muscle and skeleton study.
Arctodus is thought to be the largest terrestrial mammalian carnivore to have ever existed. Despite the fact that the bear was, like modern bears, most likely an omnivore and not a strict carnivore, the idea has merit. The Arctodus genus was a very large genus with noticeably feline features in the face and limb proportions as noted by past research which will be discussed in the near future. Arctodus was, however, more of an ambush predator using its size and strength than it was a sprinter. The bear could take down bison for sure with its power, as shown to the side here.

The bear was large, about five feet and some inches, depending on the animal, at the shoulders. Easily, the bear could stand up on two feet to be over ten feet tall. Short-faced bears  had a lot of power, though not as much as has been believed. Their long legs, for instance, while looking as though they could cover copious amounts of ground in single bounds were probably more suited to just that and not to the long distance running often thought of in coordination with long striding animals. Many different versions of the diet of this bear have been thought up over the years including scavenging and herbivorous traits that augment the carnivorous traits that surely existed.

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