A prehistoric South American giant short-faced bear tipped the scales at up to 3,500 pounds (1,600 kilograms) and towered at least 11 feet (3.4 meters) standing up, according to a new study.

Being a giant predator during the Pleistocene — from around 2.6 million years to about 11,000 years ago — was no easy feat. From short-faced bears to Ice Age coyotes, American cheetahs, dire wolves, ...

Three visions of the short-faced bear: Arctodus as a predator, a scavenger, and an herbivore. By Oscar San-Isidro, from Figueirido et al., 2010. Arctodus simus, the short-faced bear, was part of ...

The short-faced bear uncovered at the site is an ancestor of the spectacled bear of South America, Schubert said. The animals were not nearly as large as today’s bears.

Demythologizing Arctodus simus, the ‘Short-Faced’ long-legged and predaceous bear that never was Journal of Verterbrate Paleontology, 30 (1), 262-275 : 10.1080/02724630903416027 ...