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A preferred video from the podcast of comic and UFC announcer Joe Rogan circulated all through 2022 speaking about an unlimited (and terrifying) animal: the short-faced bear.
Whereas the adage that one ought to attempt to intimidate a black bear, turn out to be submissive (and small) round a brown bear, and “pray” if encountering a polar bear is well-known, Rogan’s podcast ushered in an attention-grabbing query: what would occur if a contemporary human encountered the near-mythical short-faced bear?
To actually grasp these dynamics, we have to think about the connection between the extinct giants and their fashionable kin.
Have been Brief-Confronted Bears Actual?
Scientific proof means that they have been, sure. The truth is, it’s believed there are two distinct species of now-extinct short-faced bear.
Very similar to the flamingo, which has a “lesser” and “higher” species (or James, in the event you’re feeling particularly Biblical), the short-faced bear will be categorized as:
- Lesser Brief-Confronted Bear: Arctodus pristinus
- Large Brief-Confronted Bear: Arctodus simus
One can assume that Rogan and firm have been discussing the latter as it’s believed to have been one of many largest land mammals in historical past. Even when in comparison with its relative the polar bear (Ursus maritimus), the scale distinction is appreciable.
Historical past
Whereas the bigger of the 2 species might have began roaming the earth over 5 million years in the past, it’s estimated that the huge Arctodus simus went extinct round 12,000 years in the past.
The primary file of the large short-faced bear was in 1878 by J.A. Richardson, although the lesser species was recognized by famous paleontologist Joseph Leidy in 1854.
Measurement
Whereas the trendy polar bear can attain heights of as much as 1,500 kilos, an enormous specimen was shot in northwest Alaska that weighed barely over 2,000 kilos. It additionally reached a peak of over 11 ft (when stood upright).
The Alaska polar bear is actually an aberration, nonetheless, and never indicative of the scale of most animals. Estimates on the large short-faced bear, nonetheless, are staggering.
A 2010 research suggests that just about one-third of all Arctodus simus weighed over 1,800 kilos. The biggest specimen within the specimen can be believed to have weighed over 2,100 kilos. Some estimates consider the species may have reached a weight of two,600 kilos, nonetheless.
Arctodus simus can be believed to have been capable of attain a peak of as much as 13 ft (when standing upright).
A Large, Comparatively
Whereas the large short-faced bear eclipsed its fashionable cousins, there was one other huge bear species that made Arctodus simus look small as compared.
Arctotherium angustidens, one other extinct species, is believed to have doubled the load of its huge relative. A 2011 research suggests {that a} huge specimen may have weighed as much as 4,500 kilos. A extra affordable estimate, nonetheless, is that it was someplace across the 3,000 pound mark.
How Would People Fare Towards a Brief-Confronted Bear?
For those who’ve made it this far and nonetheless have questions on human interactions with the short-faced bear, I hope, in your sake, they by no means reincarnate.
Seeing as one in every of this species recurrently dined on each deer and camel – each of which might in all probability win simply towards most people – there’s statistically a zero p.c likelihood you’d survive a tussle with one in every of these monsters.
If you need extra info on this fascinating species, PBS Eons has a terrific instructional video.
