Indarctos is a genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of mammal

Mammal

Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...

s of the family Ursidae (bear) endemic to North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

, Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

, and Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

 during the Miocene

Miocene

The Miocene is a geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about . The Miocene was named by Sir Charles Lyell. Its name comes from the Greek words and and means "less recent" because it has 18% fewer modern sea invertebrates than the Pliocene. The Miocene follows the Oligocene...

, living from ~11.1—5.3 Ma, existing for approximately .

The oldest member is from Arizona

Arizona

Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...

 (~11.1—7.7 Ma.) and youngest is (~9.0—5.3 Ma.) from Kazakstan. In North America this animal was contemporary with Plionarctos

Plionarctos

Plionarctos is an extinct genus of mammals of the family Ursidae endemic to North America and Europe during Miocene through Pleistocene, living from ~10.3—3.3 Ma, existing for approximately ....

(~10.3—3.3 Ma).

Taxonomy

Indarctos was named by Pilgrim (1913) Its type is Indarctos salmontanus. It was assigned to Agriotheriini by Chorn and Hoffman (1978); to Ursavini

Ursavini

Ursavini is an extinct tribe of mammals of the family Ursidae endemic to North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia during Miocene through Pliocene, living from ~23—2.5 Ma, existing for approximately ....

 by Hunt (1998); and to Ursidae by Pilgrim (1913), Carroll (1988) and Salesa et al. (2006).

Body mass

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

• Specimen 1 estimated to weigh: 244.4 kg (538.8 lb)
• Specimen 2 estimated to weigh: 2517.4 kg (5,549.9 lb)

Fossil distribution

Sites and specimen ages:

• Box T Site, Lipscomb County, Texas ~9.3—9.2 Ma.
• Rattlesnake site, Grant County, Oregon
  Grant County, Oregon
  Grant County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is included in the 8 county definition of Eastern Oregon. In 2010, its population was 7,445. It is named for President Ulysses S. Grant, who served as an army officer in the Oregon Territory, and at the time of the county's creation...
  
   ~10.3—4.9 Ma.
• Withlacoochee River Site 4A, Marion County, Florida paleontological sites (Indarctos sp.) ~10.3—4.9 Ma.
• Lufeng, Yunnan, China (I. atticus) ~9—5.3 Ma.
• Yulafli (CY), Thrace
  Thrace
  Thrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. As a geographical concept, Thrace designates a region bounded by the Balkan Mountains on the north, Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea on the south, and by the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara on the east...
  
  , Turkey
  Turkey
  Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
  
   (I. arctoides) ~9.7—8.7 Ma.

Species

• I. nevadensis, and I. oregonensis are of North America with fossil recovery in Oregon and Nevada, USA
• Indarctos salmontanus (Pilgrim, 1913) is the species type originating in Calcutta, India and discovered by the Geological Survey of India.