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(06-17-2023, 11:28 PM)GrizzlyClaws Wrote: Quite surprising, but not completely out of expectation that the Giant Panda subfamily Ailuropodinae was the dominant bear group during the Miocene and Pliocene period.
It does seem that the Ursinae and Tremactinae groups started to fill vacuum in the ecosystem after the decline of the Ailuropodinae group.
BTW, we can be now quite assertive that all these 3 groups of bear can reach a maximum skull size of 600 mm.
Hi GrizzlyClaws,
Concerning the size of the skulls among bears, 600 mm is probably not the maximum size. We have bones that suggest skulls maybe up to 650 mm. And in the scientific litterature, i have a paper in which a monstruous skull of 715 mm is mentioned (Ursus spelaeus): Kafka J. 1901. Šelmy Země Českě, Žijící I Fossilní. Praha: Řivnáč F. It might be (probably) a slight exaggeration.
Anyway, we have now solid evidences that prehistoric bears could get enormous. And if i apply the same reasoning as the one Asier Larramendi has used in his paper concerning the body mass of prehistoric proboscideans, then i am quite confident that some bears could have reached a mass around 1500kg (or a little bit more) for the biggest specimens which represent a percentage < 0.001 %.
Interesting, I am very eager to see those staggering prehistoric bear fossils from the Miocene-Pliocene-Pleistocene periods.
Good to see those Giant Panda related giant bears from the Miocene-Pliocene periods also got more attention from the scientific community.
Giant bears of the Mio-Pliocene
