Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Cladus: Craniata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Cladus: Synapsida
Cladus: Eupelycosauria
Cladus: Sphenacodontia
Cladus: Sphenacodontoidea
Ordo: Therapsida
Cladus: Theriodontia
Subordo: Cynodontia
Cladus: Mammaliaformes
Classis: Mammalia
Subclassis: Trechnotheria
Infraclassis: Zatheria
Supercohort: Theria
Cohort: Eutheria
Cohort: Placentalia
Cladus: Boreoeutheria
Superordo: Laurasiatheria
Cladus: Ferae
Ordo: Carnivora
Subordo: Caniformia
Familia: Ursidae
Genus: Tremarctos
Species: †Tremarctos floridanus
Name
Tremarctos floridanus (Gidley, 1928)
References
The Paleobiology Database Tremarctos floridanus
Vernacular names
Tremarctos floridanus, occasionally called the Florida spectacled bear, Florida cave bear, or rarely Florida short-faced bear, is an extinct species of bear in the family Ursidae, subfamily Tremarctinae. T. floridanus was endemic to North America from the Pliocene to the end of the Pleistocene epoch (4.9 million–12,000 years ago), existing for approximately 4.9 million years.[1]
Environment
T. floridanus was widely distributed south of the continental ice sheet, along the Gulf Coast through Florida, north to Tennessee, and across the southern United States to California.
Arctodus (3 million–11,000 years ago) was a contemporary and shared its habitat with T. floridanus. The closest living relative of the Florida cave bear is the spectacled bear of South America; they are classified together with the huge short-faced bears in the subfamily Tremarctinae. They became extinct at the end of the last ice age, 10,000 years ago (possibly as late as 8,000 years ago at Devil's Den in Florida),[2] due to some combination of climate change and hunting by newly arrived Paleo-Indians.
Taxonomy
Originally, Gidley named this animal Arctodus floridanus in 1928. It was recombined as T. floridanus by Kurten (1963), Lundelius (1972) and Kurten and Anderson (1980).[3][4]
Fossil distribution
Sites and specimen ages (not complete):
Arroyo Seco (CU 45), Palm Spring Formation, San Diego County, California 4.9–1.8 Mya
Cumberland Cave, Allegany County, Maryland 1.8 million–300,000 years ago
Cutler Fossil Site, Miami-Dade County, Florida 120,000—12,000 years ago[5]
Devil's Den Cave, Marion County, Florida about 8,000 years ago
Lecanto 2A site, Citrus County, Florida paleontological sites, about 300,000–11,000 years ago
Ladd's Quarry Site, Bartow County, Georgia 1.8 million–11,000 years ago
Rock Spring Site, Orange County, Florida about 100,000–11,000 years ago
References
PaleoBiology Database: Tremarctus, basic info
Kurtén and Anderson: 56, 178-79
E. L. Lundelius. 1972. Bureau of Economic Geology Report of Investigations 77.
Kurtén and Anderson: 178-80
Carr, Robert S. (2012). Digging Miami. Gainesville, Florida: University Press of Florida. p. 32. ISBN 978-0-8130-4206-0.
Kurtén, Björn; Elaine Anderson (1980). Pleistocene Mammals of North America. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-03733-3. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
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