Parictis
Encyclopedia
Parictis is the earliest genus of bear
known. It was a very small and graceful ursid with a skull only 7 cm long. Parictis first appeared in North America
in the Late Eocene
(ca. 38 million years ago), but it did not arrive in Eurasia and Africa until the Miocene
. There is some suggestion that a limited emigration from Asia may have produced Parictis in North America due to the major sea level lowland circa 37 mya; however, as yet no Parictis fossils have been found in East Asia
.
Bear
Bears are mammals of the family Ursidae. Bears are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans, with the pinnipeds being their closest living relatives. Although there are only eight living species of bear, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Northern...
known. It was a very small and graceful ursid with a skull only 7 cm long. Parictis first appeared in 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...
in the Late Eocene
Eocene
The Eocene Epoch, lasting from about 56 to 34 million years ago , is a major division of the geologic timescale and the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Eocene spans the time from the end of the Palaeocene Epoch to the beginning of the Oligocene Epoch. The start of the...
(ca. 38 million years ago), but it did not arrive in Eurasia and Africa until 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...
. There is some suggestion that a limited emigration from Asia may have produced Parictis in North America due to the major sea level lowland circa 37 mya; however, as yet no Parictis fossils have been found in East Asia
East Asia
East Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms...
.
Species
- P. bathygenus White 1947
- P. dakotensis Clark 1936 37 Million years old
- P. gilpini Clark & Guensburg 1972 35 Million years old
- P. major Clark & Guensburg 1972
- P. montanus Clark & Guensburg 1972 36 Million years old
- P. parvus Clark & Beerbower, 1967 38 Million years old
- P. personi Chaffee 1954 33 Million years old
- P. primaevus, Scott 1893