Plionarctos


Plionarctos is an extinct genus of bear endemic to North America from the Miocene to the Pliocene, ~10.3—3.3 Mya, existing for about 7 million years.
Indarctos preceded Plionarctos by only a few thousand years and was a contemporary of that bear and shared its habitat. Plionarctus preceded and was also contemporary with Tremarctos floridanus and shared its habitat. Plionarctos is the oldest known genus within the subfamily of the short-faced bears, and is believed to be ancestral to the clade.

Fossil distribution

Sites and specimen ages: