Ursavus

Ursavus; Temporal range: Oligocene–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:	†Ursavus
Species
	U. brevirhinus (Type); U. depereti; U. elmensis; U. pawniensis; U. primaevus;

Ursavus is an extinct genus of mammals of the family Ursidae (bears) that existed in North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia during the Miocene, living from ~23—5.3 Ma, existing for approximately 17.7 million years. It apparently dispersed from Asia into North America about 20 Ma, becoming the earliest member of the subfamily Ursinae in the New World.^[1] Qiu points out that if a questionable 29 million-year-old specimen of Ursavus reported in North America is validated, Ursavus may have evolved in North America and dispersed westward into Asia. The higher number of fossils in Europe grading toward eastern Asia make the westward dispersal unlikely.

Ursavus was named by Schlosser (1899). It was assigned to Ursidae by Schlosser (1899) and R. L. Carroll (1988); and to Ursavini by R.M. Hunt (1998) and Jin et al. (2007).^[2]^[3]

Fossil distribution

Sites (not complete) and specimen ages:

Pawnee Buttes Site, Weld County, Colorado (U. pawniensis) ~23.03—5.3 Ma.
Pasalar site, Bursa, Turkey (U. primaevus) ~16—13.7 Ma.
Baigneaux-en-Beauc, Alsac, France (U. brevirhinus) ~16.9—16.0 Ma.
Hambach mine horizon 6C, Germany (U. elmensis ~16.9—13.7 Ma.
Yost Farm Site, Saskatchewan, Canada (U. primaevus) ~16.3—13.6 Ma.
Myers Farm Site, Valentine Formation, Webster County, Nebraska (U. brevirhinus) ~16.3—13.6 Ma.
Lufeng site, Yunnan, China (U. depereti) ~9—5.3 Ma.

References

^ Qiu Zhanxiang. 2003. Dispersals of Neogene Carnivorans between Asia and North America in Chapt 2, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History #279, pp18-31.
^ R. L. Carroll. 1988. Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution. W. H. Freeman and Company, New York 1-698
^ 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.

[1] Qiu Zhanxiang. 2003. Dispersals of Neogene Carnivorans between Asia and North America in Chapt 2, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History #279, pp18-31.

[2] R. L. Carroll. 1988. Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution. W. H. Freeman and Company, New York 1-698

[3] 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.

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