Indarctos

Indarctos; Temporal range: Miocene PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Suborder:	Caniformia
Superfamily:	Arctoidea
Family:	Ursidae
Subfamily:	Ursinae
Tribe:	†Ursavini
Genus:	†Indarctos
Species
	I. salmontanus (type); I. anthracitis; I. arctoides; I. atticus; I. nevadensis; I. oregonensis; I. vireti; I. zdanskyi;

Indarctos is a genus of mammals of the family Ursidae (bear) endemic to North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia during the Miocene, living from ~11.1—5.3 Ma, existing for approximately 6.2 million years.

The oldest member is from Arizona (~11.1—7.7 Ma.) and youngest is (~9.0—5.3 Ma.) from Kazakstan. In North America this animal was contemporary with Plionarctos (~10.3—3.3 Ma).

Taxonomy

Indarctos was named by Pilgrim (1913) Its type is Indarctos salmontanus. It was assigned to Agriotheriini by Chorn and Hoffman (1978); to Ursavini by Hunt (1998); and to Ursidae by Pilgrim (1913), Carroll (1988) and Salesa et al. (2006).^[1]^[2]^[3]

Morphology

Body mass

Two specimens were examined by Legendre and Roth for body mass.^[4]

Specimen 1 estimated to weigh: 244.4 kg (540 lb)
Specimen 2 estimated to weigh: 2,517.4 kg (5,500 lb)

Fossil distribution

Sites and specimen ages:

Box T Site, Lipscomb County, Texas ~9.3—9.2 Ma.
Rattlesnake site, Grant County, Oregon ~10.3—4.9 Ma.
Withlacoochee River Site 4A, Marion County, Florida paleontological sites (Indarctos sp.) ~10.3—4.9 Ma.
Lufeng, Yunnan, China (I. atticus) ~9—5.3 Ma.
Yulafli (CY), Thrace, Turkey (I. arctoides) ~9.7—8.7 Ma.

Species

I. nevadensis, and I. oregonensis are of North America with fossil recovery in Oregon and Nevada, USA
Indarctos salmontanus (Pilgrim, 1913) is the species type originating in Calcutta, India and discovered by the Geological Survey of India.

References

^ J. Chorn and R. S. Hoffman. 1978. Ailuropoda melanoleuca. Mammalian Species 110:1-6
^ Hunt, R. M. (1998). "Ursidae". In Jacobs, Louis; Janis, Christine M.; Scott, Kathleen L. (eds.). Evolution of Tertiary Mammals of North America: Volume 1, Terrestrial Carnivores, Ungulates, and Ungulate like Mammals. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. pp. 174–195. ISBN 0521355192.
^ M. J. Salesa, M. Antón, S. Peigné and J. Morales. 2006. Evidence of a false thumb in a fossil carnivore clarifies the evolution of pandas. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 103(2):379-382
^ S. Legendre and C. Roth. 1988. Correlation of carnassial tooth size and body weight in recent carnivores (Mammalia). Historical Biology 1(1):85-98

[1] J. Chorn and R. S. Hoffman. 1978. Ailuropoda melanoleuca. Mammalian Species 110:1-6

[2] Hunt, R. M. (1998). "Ursidae". In Jacobs, Louis; Janis, Christine M.; Scott, Kathleen L. (eds.). Evolution of Tertiary Mammals of North America: Volume 1, Terrestrial Carnivores, Ungulates, and Ungulate like Mammals. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. pp. 174–195. ISBN 0521355192.

[3] M. J. Salesa, M. Antón, S. Peigné and J. Morales. 2006. Evidence of a false thumb in a fossil carnivore clarifies the evolution of pandas. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 103(2):379-382

[4] S. Legendre and C. Roth. 1988. Correlation of carnassial tooth size and body weight in recent carnivores (Mammalia). Historical Biology 1(1):85-98

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