Agriotherium

Agriotherium Temporal range: Late Miocene–Pleistocene PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N
Teeth
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Superfamily:	Arctoidea
Family:	Ursidae
Subfamily:	Ursinae
Tribe:	Ursavini
Genus:	†Agriotherium Wagner, 1837
Species
†A. africanum †A. inexpectans †A. schneideri †A. sivalensis

Agriotherium is an extinct genus of Ursidae of the Miocene through Pleistocene epochs, with fossils found in Neogene strata of North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia, living from ~13.6–2.5 Ma, existing for approximately 11.1 million years.

Taxonomy

Agriotherium was named by Wagner (1837). It was assigned to Agriotheriini by Chorn and Hoffman (1978); to Hemicyoninae by Qiu et al. (1991); to Ursavini by Hunt (1998); to Ursidae by Wagner (1837), Carroll (1988) and Salesa et al. (2006), and Ursinae by Krause et al. 2008.

Morphology

Mandible

Agriotherium was about in body length and weighed around 910 kg (2,000 lb), making it larger than most living bears. Except for the extinct subspecies of modern polar bear Ursus maritimus tyrannus and Arctotherium, Agriotherium was along with the short-faced bear, Arctodus simus the largest member of terrestrial Carnivora. It had dog-like crushing teeth. Its primary diet was carnivorous and secondary was omnivorous possibly classifying this animal as mesocarnivore. With a body mass close to those of most large ungulates (bovines, cervids, camelids, and others), it is probable that Agrotherium could have preyed on these.

Body mass

Two specimens were examined by Legendre and Roth for body mass.

• Specimen 1:
• Specimen 2:

Bite strength

A 2011 estimate that compared the bites of a few selected bears, both extant and extinct, concluded that Agriotherium had the strongest bite-force of any mammalian land-predator yet estimated.

Fossil distribution

Sites and age of specimens:

• American Cyanimid Company site, Bone Valley Formation, Polk County, Florida ~13.7—11.6 Ma.
• Venta del Moro, Spain ~9–5.3 Ma.
• Lang. E Quarry, South Africa ~5.3–3.6 Ma.
• Carlin High Quarry, Elko County, Nevada ~23–5.3 Ma.
• Vialette, Haute Loire, France ~3.2–2.5 Ma.
• Middle Awash, Ethiopia ~11.6–3.6 Ma.

Agriotherium ranged widely; fossils of four or more species have been found in Europe, India, China, North America and South Africa. It is the only ursoid known to have colonized sub-Saharan Africa (amphicyonid "bear dogs" also reached the area).

External links

• Illustration at ScienceArt

• S. Legendre and C. Roth. 1988. Correlation of carnassial tooth size and body weight in recent carnivores (Mammalia). Historical Biology 1(1):85–98