![]() At that time, the most abundant brown bear population was located in what is now California. This prehistoric giant inhabited North America in the Pleistocene epoch from approx. Was a short-faced bear the perfect killing machine? Classification However, some early giant carnivorous mammals such as Andrewsarchus, Sarkastodon, and Megistotherium appear to have been similar or even larger. It was believed to be one of the largest predatory mammals that lived on Earth during the Ice Age. It could be as fast as the best modern racehorses, and with physical strength and charisma, it was able to defeat the saber-toothed tiger or the American lion. The bones are now part of the collection at the UI Paleontology Repository, where they remain available to scientists for ongoing research.An animal that, standing on two legs, could reach the first floor. It also means that this specimen may be important in understanding the biology of short-faced bears, because it can help us determine what traits are consistent across the species' wide range.“ But, it is a confirmation that they were here. "The distribution of previous finds is quite broad across North America and surrounds Iowa. “It's not a surprise that one was found here,” explains Trina Roberts, former director of the Pentacrest Museums. This is always a good indicator that the bone is well preserved and will most likely produce a reliable date. ![]() ![]() During the cutting process there was a distinct smell of burning organic material (like the smell of burning hair). The radiocarbon sample was taken from the posterior side of the tibia where cortical bone is particularly thick. ![]() No indication of disease or old age (no pathologies or arthritis) is evident. The individual is full-grown as the growth plates are completely fused. For this reason it is most likely a male bear (the species has a high degree of sexual dimorphism, like many other bears). The specimen is an intact left tibia and measurements put it in the upper end of the size range for Arctodus simus. The bear tibia has been cleaned and samples have been taken for chemical analysis, such as radiocarbon dating. UI researchers have collaborated with colleagues at UI Hospitals and Clinics and the College of Engineering to CT-scan the specimens, allowing prototype replicas to be made that will be used for educational programming. What I find most impressive about this bear species is its size, ferocity, and the fact that it co-existed with humans for a time.” “I had never heard of it and had a hard time imagining that such a huge bear existed in this area. “My first reaction was what the heck is a short-faced bear?” says Walker. Department of Agriculture archaeologist Richard Rogers of Des Moines, who identified the bones, a tibia and pelvis fragment, as belonging to Arctodus simus, commonly known as the giant short-faced bear. “The bone was unusually large and my first thought was that it could be from something extinct,” Walker says. Joe Walker of Brayton made the discovery in the back dirt of a USDA flood control dam along Troublesome Creek, near Atlantic. After a time-consuming process of analysis and verification, paleontologists confirmed that the find is the first verified short-faced bear specimen found in the state. A southwest Iowa farmer discovered the bones of the bear on his farm in 2008.
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