Arctodus simus Cope 1879 (giant short-faced bear)

Mammalia - Carnivora - Ursidae

Alternative combinations: Arctotherium simum, Tremarctotherium simum

Synonyms: Arctodus simus yukonensis Lambe 1911, Arctotherium californicum Merriam 1911, Arctotherium yukonense Lambe 1911, Dinarctotherium merriami Barbour 1916, Tremarctotherium californicum Merriam 1911, Tremarctotherium yukonense Lambe 1911

Full reference: E. D. Cope. 1879. The cave bear of California. American Naturalist 13(12):791

Belongs to Arctodus according to R. L. Richards and W. D. Turnbull 1995

See also Barbour 1916, Carranza-Castaneda and Miller 1987, Emslie and Czaplewski 1985, Gillette and Madsen 1992, Hay 1902, Hibbard 1955, Hibbard 1955, Kurten and Anderson 1980, Lambe 1911, Merriam 1911, Richards et al. 1996, Schubert and Kaufmann 2003 and Schultz 1938

Sister taxon: Arctodus pristinus

Type specimens:

  • Arctodus simus: AMNH 8222, a skull (skull). Its type locality is Potter Creek Cave, which is in a Pleistocene cave horizon in California.
  • Arctotherium californicum: UCMP 17754, a set of postcrania (elements of the foot).
  • Arctotherium yukonense: Cat. No. 7438, a skull (complete skull without lower jaw). Its type locality is Gold-run Creek Arctotherium, which is in a Pleistocene terrestrial horizon in Canada.
  • Dinarctotherium merriami:

Distribution:

• Quaternary of Canada (3: British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Yukon collections), United States (28: Alabama, Alaska, California, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Wyoming)

• Blancan of United States (1: California)

Total: 32 collections each including a single occurrence

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Specimen images are retrieved through the ePANDDA API.


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