Tremarctinae is a term for the subfamily of Ursidae containing one living representative, 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...

 (Tremarctos ornatus) of South America

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

, and several extinct species from four genera: the Florida spectacled bear (Tremarctos floridanus), the North American short-faced bears of genera Plionarctos

Plionarctos

Plionarctos is an extinct genus of mammals of the family Ursidae endemic to North America and Europe during Miocene through Pleistocene, living from ~10.3—3.3 Ma, existing for approximately ....

(P. edensis and P. harroldorum) and 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...

(A. pristinus and A. simus), and the South American short-faced bears of Arctotherium

Arctotherium

Arctotherium is an extinct genus of South American short-faced bears within Ursidae of the late Pliocene through the end of the Pleistocene. Their ancestors migrated from North America to South America during the Great American Interchange, following the formation of the Isthmus of Panama. They...

(including A. latidens, A. brasilense, A. angustidens, A. vetustum, A. bonariense, A. tarijense, and A. wingei).

Tremarctinae was assigned to Ursidae by P. R. Bjork in 1970 and is one of three recognized subfamilys of Ursidae (as of 2008).

External links

• Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre - North American Short-Faced Bear