Agriotheriini

Agriotheriini; Temporal range: Tortonian–Gelasian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
	Skeletal remains of Indarctos arctoides displayed in National Archaeological Museum (Madrid)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Family:	Ursidae
Subfamily:	Ailuropodinae
Tribe:	†Agriotheriini; Hendey, 1972
Genera
	†Agriotherium; †Huracan; †Indarctos; †Miomaci?;
Synonyms
	Agriotheriinae Kretzoi, 1929; Indarctini Abella et al., 2012;

Agriotheriini is an extinct tribe of ailuropodine bears from the middle Neogene to early Quaternary periods, with fossils found from Eurasia, Africa, and North America.

Taxonomy

The tribe Agriotheriini consists of the three (perhaps four) genera

Agriotherium
Huracan
Indarctos
Miomaci (possibly).

The taxonomy of these bears has variously placed some of the genera in other bear lineages such as Hemicyoninae and Ursavinae.^[1]^[2]

Recent papers support their inclusion with giant pandas as members of Ailuropodinae based on diagnostic features like

large cheek teeth
parastyle fourth premolar with an enlarged inner lobe
wide first and second molars being
high mandible, with respect to the lower tooth row.

They are unlike their closest living relative, the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) which evolved into a highly specialized bamboo-eater: The evolution of agriotheriins lead to the group becoming large, hypercarnivorous bears that had adaptations of cursoriality unique in the evolutionary history of bears.^[3]^[4]

References

^ Hunt, R.M. (1998). "Ursidae". In Jacobs, Louis; Janis, Christine M.; Scott, Kathleen L. (eds.). Evolution of Tertiary Mammals of North America. Vol. 1, Terrestrial carnivores, ungulates, and ungulate-like mammals. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. pp. 174–195. ISBN 0-521-35519-2.
^ Jin, C.; Ciochon, R.L.; Dong, W.; Hunt, R.M., Jr.; Liu, J.; Jaeger, M.; Zhu, Q. (2007). "The first skull of the earliest giant panda". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 104 (26): 10932–10937. doi:10.1073/pnas.0704198104. PMC 1904166. PMID 17578912.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ de Bonis, Louis; Merceron, Juan; Abella, Gildas; Begun, David (October 2017). "A new late Miocene ailuropodine (Giant Panda) from Rudabánya (North-central Hungary)". Geobios. 50 (5–6): 413–421. Bibcode:2017Geobi..50..413D. doi:10.1016/j.geobios.2017.09.003.
^ Jiangzuo, Q.; Flynn, J.J.; Wang, S.; Hou, S.; Deng, T. (2023). "New fossil giant panda relatives (Ailuropodinae, Ursidae): A basal lineage of gigantic Mio-Pliocene cursorial carnivores". American Museum Novitates (3996): 1–71. doi:10.1206/3996.1. hdl:2246/7315. S2CID 257508340.

[1] Hunt, R.M. (1998). "Ursidae". In Jacobs, Louis; Janis, Christine M.; Scott, Kathleen L. (eds.). Evolution of Tertiary Mammals of North America. Vol. 1, Terrestrial carnivores, ungulates, and ungulate-like mammals. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. pp. 174–195. ISBN 0-521-35519-2.

[2] Jin, C.; Ciochon, R.L.; Dong, W.; Hunt, R.M., Jr.; Liu, J.; Jaeger, M.; Zhu, Q. (2007). "The first skull of the earliest giant panda". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 104 (26): 10932–10937. doi:10.1073/pnas.0704198104. PMC 1904166. PMID 17578912.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[deBonisetal2017-3] Bonis, Louis; Merceron, Juan; Abella, Gildas; Begun, David (October 2017). "A new late Miocene ailuropodine (Giant Panda) from Rudabánya (North-central Hungary)". Geobios. 50 (5–6): 413–421. Bibcode:2017Geobi..50..413D. doi:10.1016/j.geobios.2017.09.003.

[Jiangzuoetal2023-4] Jiangzuo, Q.; Flynn, J.J.; Wang, S.; Hou, S.; Deng, T. (2023). "New fossil giant panda relatives (Ailuropodinae, Ursidae): A basal lineage of gigantic Mio-Pliocene cursorial carnivores". American Museum Novitates (3996): 1–71. doi:10.1206/3996.1. hdl:2246/7315. S2CID 257508340.

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[2]

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Agriotheriini

Taxonomy

References

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