Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-fqc5m Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-28T22:17:21.068Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Giant short-faced bears (Arctodus simus) in Pleistocene Florida USA, a substantial range extension

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 July 2015

Blaine W. Schubert
Affiliation:
Department of Geosciences and Don Sundquist Center of Excellence in Paleontology, Box 70357, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City 37614,
Richard C. Hulbert JR.
Affiliation:
Division of Vertebrate Paleontology, Florida Museum of Natural History, Dickinson Hall, Box 117800, University of Florida, Gainesville 32611
Bruce J. Macfadden
Affiliation:
Division of Vertebrate Paleontology, Florida Museum of Natural History, Dickinson Hall, Box 117800, University of Florida, Gainesville 32611
Michael Searle
Affiliation:
2407 Tangerine Hill Court, Lutz, Florida 33549
Seina Searle
Affiliation:
2407 Tangerine Hill Court, Lutz, Florida 33549

Abstract

Fossils of the giant short-faced bear, Arctodus simus (Cope, 1879), have been recovered from over 100 localities in North America, extending from Mexico to Alaska and California to Virginia. Despite this large range, the species has never been recorded from the southeastern United States. The lesser short-faced bear, Arctodus pristinus Leidy, 1854 is well represented from this region, particularly Florida, but all known occurrences are late Pliocene – middle Pleistocene in age (about 2.5 to 0.3 Ma). Differentiating A. simus from A. pristinus can be difficult because large individuals of A. pristinus overlap in size with small individuals of A. simus, and there are few morphological differences. However, these two taxa can be clearly separated based on the relative proportions of their molars and premolars. Two Pleistocene records of A. simus representing a minimum of three individuals from the Withlacoochee River drainage of central Florida are reported here, substantially extending the distribution of this massive bear into southeastern North America. A late Pleistocene age for these occurrences is corroborated by an associated Rancholabrean fauna and rare earth elemental analyses. One of the reported individuals is quite large, supporting the hypothesis of extreme sexual dimorphism in A. simus and rejecting a hypothesis of two subspecies.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Barnes, I., Matheus, P., Shapiro, B., Jensen, D., and Cooper, A. 2002. Dynamics of Pleistocene population extinctions in Beringian brown bears. Science, 295:22672270.Google Scholar
Bocherens, H., Emslie, S. D., Billiou, D., and Mariotti, A. 1995. Stable isotopes (13C, 15N) and paleodiet of the giant short-faced bear (Arctodus simus). Comptes rendus de l'Académie des sciences Paris, 320:779784.Google Scholar
Bowdich, T. E. 1821. An analysis of the natural classifications of Mammalia for the use of students and travellers. J. Smith, Paris, 115 p.Google Scholar
Brisson, A. D. 1762. Regnum Animale in Classes IX distributum sive synopsis methodica. Edito altero auctior. Theodorum Haak, Leiden, Netherlands, 294 pp.Google Scholar
Burmeister, G. 1879. Description physique de la République Argentine d' après des observations personnelles étragères 3 (animaux vertébrés, 1: Mammifères vivants et éteints). P.E. Coni, Buenos Aires, 55 p.Google Scholar
Christiansen, P. 1999. What size were Arctodus simus and Ursus spelaeus (Carnivora: Ursidae)? Annales Zoologici Fennici, 36:93102.Google Scholar
Churcher, C. S., Morgan, A. V., and Carter, L. D. 1993. Arctodus simus from the Alaskan Arctic Slope. Canadian Journal of Earth Science, 30:10071013.Google Scholar
Cope, E. D. 1879. The cave bear of California. American Naturalist, 13:791.Google Scholar
Cope, E. D. 1893. A preliminary report on the vertebrate paleontology of the Llano Estacado. Fourth Annual Report, Texas Geological Survey, 136 p.Google Scholar
Cuvier, F. G. 1825. Histoire Naturelle Mammifères, pt. 3 5(50).Google Scholar
Desmarest, A. G. 1822. Mammalogie ou déscription des espèces de mammifères. Mme Veuve Agasse, Paris, 2ème partie, p. 277555.Google Scholar
Driesch, A. von den. 1976. A guide to the measurement of animal bones from archaeological sites. Peabody Museum Bulletins, Harvard University, 1:1137.Google Scholar
Emslie, S. D. 1995. The fossil record of Arctodus pristinus (Ursidae: Tremarctinae) in Florida. Bulletin of the Florida Museum of Natural History, 37:501514.Google Scholar
Emslie, S. D. and Czaplewski, N. J. 1985. A new record of the giant short-faced bear, Arctodus simus, from western North America with reevaluation of its paleobiology. Contributions in Science, 371:112.Google Scholar
Falconer, H. 1857. On the species of mastodon and elephant occurring in the fossil state in Great Britain. Quarterly Journal Geological Society London, 13:307360.Google Scholar
Foster, J. W. 1838. Organic Remains, p. 7983 In Second Annual Report, Geological Survey of Ohio, Columbus, 286 p.Google Scholar
Gidley, J. W. 1928. A new species of bear from the Pleistocene of Florida. Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences, 18:430433.Google Scholar
Gobetz, K. E. and Martin, L. D. 2001. An exceptionally large short-faced bear (Arctodus simus) from the late Pleistocene(?)/early Holocene of Kansas. Current Research in the Pleistocene, 18:9798.Google Scholar
Gray, J. E. 1825. An outline of an attempt at the disposition of Mammalia into tribes and families with a list of the genera apparently appertaining to each tribe. Annals of Philosophy, 10:337344.Google Scholar
Hatcher, J. B. 1894. A median horned rhinoceros from the Loup Fork Beds of Nebraska. American Geologist, 13:149150.Google Scholar
Hawksley, O. 1965. Short-faced bear (Arctodus) fossils from Ozark caves. Bulletin of the National Speleological Society, 27:7792.Google Scholar
Hulbert, R. C. Jr., (ed.). 2001. The Fossil Vertebrates of Florida. University Press of Florida, Gainesville.Google Scholar
Kerr, R. 1792. The animal kingdom, or zoological system of the celebrated Sir Charles Linnaeus; class I, Mammalia. Murray, J. and Faulder, R., London, 400 pp.Google Scholar
Kraglievich, L. 1926. Los arctoterios norteamericanos (Tremarctotherium n. gen.) en relación con los de Sud América. Anales del Museo Nacional de Historia Natural “Bernadino Rivadavia”, 34:116.Google Scholar
Kurtén, B. 1966. Pleistocene bears of North America. 1. Genus Tremarctos, spectacled bears. Acta Zoologica Fennica, 115:1120.Google Scholar
Kurtén, B. 1967. Pleistocene bears of North America. 2. Genus Arctodus, short-faced bears. Acta Zoologica Fennica, 117:160.Google Scholar
Kurtén, B. and Anderson, E. 1980. Pleistocene Mammals of North America. Columbia University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Leidy, J. 1852. Remarks on two crania of extinct species of ox. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 6:71.Google Scholar
Leidy, J. 1853. Description of an extinct species of American lion: Felis atrox . Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, 10:319321.Google Scholar
Leidy, J. 1854. Remarks on Sus americanus, or Harlanus americanus, and on other extinct mammals. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 7:90.Google Scholar
Leidy, J. 1858. Notice of remains of extinct Vertebrata, from the Valley of the Niobrara River, collected during the Exploring Expedition of 1857, Nebraska, under the command of Lieut. G. K. Warren, U.S. Top. Eng., by Dr. F. V. Hayden, geologist of the Expedition. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences, 1858:2029.Google Scholar
Leidy, J. 1868. Notice of some vertebrate remains from Harden Co., Texas. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 1868:174176.Google Scholar
Leidy, J. 1889. Description of vertebrate remains from Peace Creek, Florida. Transactions of the Wagner Free Institute of Science of Philadelphia, 2:1931.Google Scholar
Linnaeus, C. 1758. Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secumdum classes, ordines, genera, species cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis, Vol., 1. 10th edition. Laurentii Salvii, Holmia.Google Scholar
MacFadden, B. J., Labs-Hochstein, J., Hulbert, R. C., and Baskin, J. A. 2007. Revised age of the late Neogene terror bird (Titanis) in North America during the Great American Interchange. Geology, 35:123126.Google Scholar
MacFadden, B. J. and Hulbert, R. C. 2009. Calibration of mammoth (Mammuthus) dispersal into North America using rare earth elements of Plio-Pleistocene mammals from Florida. Quaternary Research, 71:4148.Google Scholar
Matheus, P. E. 1995. Diet and co-ecology of Pleistocene short-faced bears and brown bears in eastern Beringia. Quaternary Research, 44:447453.Google Scholar
Matheus, P. E. 2003. Locomotor adaptations and ecomorphology of short-faced bears (Arctodus simus) in eastern Beringia. Paleontology Program, Government of the Yukon, Occasional Papers in Earth Sciences No. 7, 1126.Google Scholar
Matthew, W. D. 1926. The evolution of the horse: a record and its interpretation. Quarterly Review of Biology, 1:139185.Google Scholar
McLennan, S. M. 1989. Rare earth elements in sedimentary rocks: Influence of provenance and sedimentary processes. In Lipin, B. R. and McKay, G. A., (eds.), Geochemistry and mineralogy of rare earth elements: Mineralogical Society of America Reviews in Mineralogy, 21:169200.Google Scholar
Miller, T. E. 1989. Chiquibul 88. National Speleological Society News, 47:6166.Google Scholar
Merriam, J. C. and Stock, C. 1925. Relationships and structure of the short-faced bear, Arctotherium, from the Pleistocene of California. Carnegie Institution of Washington Publication, 347:135.Google Scholar
Owen, R. 1840. Fossil Mammalia. The Zoology of the Voyage of the H.M.S. Beagle, under the Command of Captain Fitzroy, R.N., during the Years 1832 to 1836. Part I. Smith, Elder and Company, London, 111 p.Google Scholar
Pallas, P. S. 1780. Spicilegia Zoologica, quibus novae imprimis et obcurae animalium species iconibus. Berolini, G. A. Lange, 1774–1780. Fasicle 14, p. 5.Google Scholar
Pilgrim, G. 1913. The correlation of the Siwaliks with mammal horizons of Europe. Records of the Geological Society of India, 43:264326.Google Scholar
Rafinesque, C. S. 1832. Description of some of the fossil teeth in a cave in Pennsylvania. Atlantic Journal, 1:109110.Google Scholar
Richards, R. L. and Turnbull, W. D. 1995. Giant short-faced bear (Arctodus simus yukonensis) remains from Fulton County, northern Indiana. Fieldiana: Geology, 30:134.Google Scholar
Richards, R. L., Churcher, C. S., and Turnbull, W. D. 1996. Distribution and size variation in North American short-faced bears, Arctodus simus , p. 191246. In Stewart, K. M. and Seymour, K. L. (eds.), Palaeoecology and Palaeoenvironments of Late Cenozoic Mammals: Tributes to the Career of C.S. (Rufus) Churcher. University of Toronto Press, Toronto.Google Scholar
Schubert, B. W. 2008. Dental evolution in North American short-faced bears. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 28:138A Google Scholar
Schubert, B. W. In press. Late Quaternary chronology and extinction of North American giant short-faced bears (Arctodus simus). Quaternary International.Google Scholar
Schubert, B. W. and Kaufmann, J. E. 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, 65:101110.Google Scholar
Schubert, B. W. and Wallace, S. C. 2009. Late Pleistocene giant short-faced bears, mammoths, and large carcass scavenging in the Saltville Valley of Virginia, USA. Boreas, 38:482492.Google Scholar
Scott, E. and Cox, S. M. 1993. Arctodus simus (Cope, 1879) from Riverside County, California. PaleoBios, 15:2736.Google Scholar
Scott, T. M., Means, G. H., Meegan, R. P., Means, R. C., Upchurch, S. B., Copeland, R. E., Jones, J., Roberts, T., and Willet, A. 2004. Springs of Florida. Florida Geological Survey Bulletin, 66:1377.Google Scholar
Sellards, E. H. 1918. The skull of a Pleistocene tapir including a description of a new species and a note on the associated fauna and flora. Florida State Geological Survey, 10th and 11th Annual Reports, pp. 5770.Google Scholar
Simpson, G. G. 1928. Pleistocene mammals from a cave in Citrus County, Florida. American Museum Novitates, 328:116.Google Scholar
Simpson, G. G. 1929. Pleistocene mammalian fauna of the Seminole Field, Pinellas County, Florida. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 56:561599.Google Scholar
Smith, C. H. 1827. The seventh order of the Mammalia. The Ruminatia, p. 1428, In Griffith, E., Smith, C. H., and Pidgeon, E. (eds.), The Animal Kingdom Arranged in Conformity with its Organization, by the Baron Curvier, Member of the Institute of France, with Additional Descriptions of all the Species Hitherto Named, and of Many Not Before Noticed. G. B. Whitaker, London.Google Scholar
Soibelzon, L. H., Tonni, E. P., and Bond, M. 2005. The fossil record of South American short-faced bears (Ursidae, Tremarctinae). Journal of South American Earth Sciences, 20:105113.Google Scholar
Sorkin, B. 2006. Ecomorphology of the giant short-faced bears Agriotherium and Arctodus . Historical Biology, 18:120.Google Scholar
Stirling, I. 1993. The living bears, p. 3649. In Sterling, I. (ed.), Bears: Majestic Creatures of the Wild. Rodale Press, Emmaus.Google Scholar
Stirling, I. and Derocher, A. E. 1993. The behavior of bears, pp. 7083. In Sterling, I. (ed.), Bears: Majestic Creatures of the Wild. Rodale Press, Emmaus.Google Scholar
Voorhies, M. R. and Corner, R. G. 1982. Ice age superpredators. University of Nebraska State Museum, Museum Notes, 70:14.Google Scholar