Short-faced bear

Arctodus with a bison kill, by Zdenek Burian.

The short-faced bear (Arctodus), also called the giant short-faced bear or bulldog bear, was a genus of prehistoric bear which ranged across North America from the mid-Pleistocene until at least 11,000 years ago. Arctodus simus may be one of the largest known terrestrial mammalian carnivores that has ever existed. Although generally believed to be extinct, some cryptozoologists have theorised that it may still exist in North America or Russia.

United States

C. Hart Merriam, who examined the body of MacFarlane's bear, thought this animal's unique dentition - "a combination of long canines and well-developed cusps with broadly flattened surfaces; the cusps of the upper first and second molars are reduced, while the lower second molar lacks the posterior cusp and notch" - more closely resembled that of Arctodus than a brown bear.

Dale Drinnon has suggested that a number of accounts included in collections of supposed Bigfoot sightings, especially from the Eastern United States, may in fact refer to surviving short-faced bears, which he notes have the limb proportions of a gorilla. These Bigfoot accounts describe much larger animals with eyes that glow in the dark. Drinnon also writes that possible short-faced bears are often recorded as "mystery cats" due to their flat faces, and also states that some have been reported as being killed or captured. In the United States, these animals are often referred to as booger bears.

According to Ivan T. Sanderson, early settlers of North America reported a "grizzly bear" inhabiting high plains area, which was a specialist predator of bison and was much larger than the true grizzly bear. This so-called grizzly bear apparently went extinct when the bison were overhunted. Dale A. Drinnon takes this bear to be a surviving short-faced bear.

George Eberhart suggests that the stiff-legged bear, a monster appearing in Native American myth, may have been inspired by encounters with late-surviving short-faced bears.

Canada

There are also reports of a bulldog bear capable of carrying off a moose, from the "Northwest Territories and even into Northern British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan", which may refer to a living short-faced bear.

A living short-faced bear is also one identity proposed for the Canadian saytoechin, a very large animal which preys on beavers.

Russia

Russian zoologist Nikolai K. Vereshchagin wrote that the irkuiem or "caterpillar bear" of Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula could be a living short-faced bear. He wrote:

"I personally do not in any way exclude the possibility that there is an eighth species of bear in the world today. The theory that it could be a close relative of an extinct Ice Age bear does not seem so far-fetched either."

Although it is not currently known to have lived in Russia, some zoologists have suggested that the short-faced bear could have delayed human migration across the Bering land bridge between Russia and America: Karl Shuker notes that, if this were the case, short-faced bears could also have crossed into Russia. He suggests that the animal could then have evolved to more closely resemble its chief competitor, the brown bear, whilst retaining its immense size. This theory may not even be necessary, as, according to Dale A. Drinnon, the irkuiem was said to have arrived in Kamchatka from across the Chukchi Sea, on Alaskan ice floes.

Genera considered

• Arctodus

See also

• Category:Theory: Living fossil - Short-faced bear
• Living Arctotherium