Florida Cave Bear
Encyclopedia
Tremarctos floridanus, occasionally called the Florida spectacled bear or rarely Florida short-faced bear is an extinct species
of bear
in the family
Ursidae, subfamily Tremarctinae
. T. floridanus was endemic to North America
from the Pliocene
to Pleistocene
epoch (4.9 mya—11,000 years ago), existing for approximately .
and north to Tennessee
, and across the southern United States
to California
.
Arctodus
(3 million—11,000 years ago) was a contemporary and shared its habit with T. floridanus. The closest living relative of the Florida cave bear is the Spectacled Bear
of South America; they are classified together with the huge short-faced bears
in the family
Tremarctinae
. They became extinct at the end of the last ice age,10,000 years ago due to some combination of climate change
and hunting
by newly arrived Paleo-Indians.
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
of bear
Bear
Bears are mammals of the family Ursidae. Bears are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans, with the pinnipeds being their closest living relatives. Although there are only eight living species of bear, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Northern...
in the family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
Ursidae, subfamily Tremarctinae
Tremarctinae
Tremarctinae is a term for the subfamily of Ursidae containing one living representative, the Spectacled Bear of South America, and several extinct species from four genera: the Florida spectacled bear , the North American short-faced bears of genera Plionarctos and Arctodus Tremarctinae is a...
. T. floridanus was endemic to North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
from the Pliocene
Pliocene
The Pliocene Epoch is the period in the geologic timescale that extends from 5.332 million to 2.588 million years before present. It is the second and youngest epoch of the Neogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Pliocene follows the Miocene Epoch and is followed by the Pleistocene Epoch...
to Pleistocene
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene is the epoch from 2,588,000 to 11,700 years BP that spans the world's recent period of repeated glaciations. The name pleistocene is derived from the Greek and ....
epoch (4.9 mya—11,000 years ago), existing for approximately .
Environment
T. floridanus was widely distributed south of the continental ice sheet, along the Gulf Coast across through FloridaFlorida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
and north to Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
, and across the southern United States
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
Arctodus
Arctodus
Arctodus — known as the short-faced bear or bulldog bear — is an extinct genus of bear endemic to North America during the Pleistocene ~3.0 Ma.—11,000 years ago, existing for approximately three million years. Arctodus simus may have once been Earth's largest mammalian, terrestrial carnivore...
(3 million—11,000 years ago) was a contemporary and shared its habit with T. floridanus. The closest living relative of the Florida cave bear is the Spectacled Bear
Spectacled Bear
The spectacled bear , also known as the Andean bear and locally as ukuko, jukumari or ucumari, is the last remaining short-faced bear and the closest living relative to the Florida spectacled bear and short-faced bears of the Middle Pleistocene to Late Pleistocene age.The spectacled bear is a...
of South America; they are classified together with the huge short-faced bears
Arctodus
Arctodus — known as the short-faced bear or bulldog bear — is an extinct genus of bear endemic to North America during the Pleistocene ~3.0 Ma.—11,000 years ago, existing for approximately three million years. Arctodus simus may have once been Earth's largest mammalian, terrestrial carnivore...
in the family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
Tremarctinae
Tremarctinae
Tremarctinae is a term for the subfamily of Ursidae containing one living representative, the Spectacled Bear of South America, and several extinct species from four genera: the Florida spectacled bear , the North American short-faced bears of genera Plionarctos and Arctodus Tremarctinae is a...
. They became extinct at the end of the last ice age,10,000 years ago due to some combination of climate change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
and hunting
Hunting
Hunting is the practice of pursuing any living thing, usually wildlife, for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law...
by newly arrived Paleo-Indians.
Taxonomy
Originally Gidley named this animal Arctodus floridanus in 1928. It was recombined as Tremarctos floridanus by Kurten (1963), Lundelius (1972) and Kurten and Anderson (1980).Fossil distribution
Sites and specimen ages (not complete):- Rock Spring SiteOrange County, Florida paleontological sitesThe Orange County paleontological sites are assemblages of Late Pleistocene vertebrates occurring in Orange County, Florida.-Age:Era: NeogenePeriod: Pleistocene...
, Orange County, Florida ~100,000—11,000 years ago. - Arroyo Seco (CU 45), Palm Spring Formation, San Diego County, CaliforniaSan Diego County, CaliforniaSan Diego County is a large county located in the southwestern corner of the US state of California. Hence, San Diego County is also located in the southwestern corner of the 48 contiguous United States. Its county seat and largest city is San Diego. Its population was about 2,813,835 in the 2000...
~4.9—1.8 Ma. - Cumberland Cave, Allegany County, MarylandAllegany County, MarylandAllegany County is a county located in the northwestern part of the US state of Maryland. It is part of the Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of 2010, the population was 75,087. Its county seat is Cumberland...
~1.8 Ma—300,000 years ago. - Lecanto 2A site, Citrus County, Florida paleontological sites, ~300,000—11,000 years ago.
- Ladd's Quarry Site, Bartow County, GeorgiaBartow County, GeorgiaBartow County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 100,157. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's July 1, 2009 estimate, the county's explosive growth resulted in a population of 96,217, a 26.5% increase in less than ten years...
~1.8—11,000 years ago.