First report of a South American short-faced bears' den (Arctotherium angustidens): palaeobiological and palaeoecological implications

First description of milk teeth of fossil South American procyonid from the lower Chapadmalalan (Late Miocene–Early Pliocene) of “Farola Monte Hermoso,” Argentina: paleoecological considerations

“…This dietary shift (and consequently ecological niche change) between the first immigrant procyonids and the Recent taxa could have been the result of the peculiar evolution of the carnivore guild in South America, because here the only placental carnivores until the Late Pliocene were procyonids (Forasiepi et al 2007;Soibelzon et al 2009b). The other mammalian predators were the Sparassodonta (Metatheria) that become extinct by the Late Chapadmalalan (Forasiepi et al 2007 and articles cited therein; Fig.…”

Elbow Joint Geometry in Bears (Ursidae, Carnivora): a Tool to Infer Paleobiology and Functional Adaptations of Quaternary Fossils

“…Based on the lower discriminatory power of the caudal view of the joint, we can confidently discard possibilities for the American fossil bears of being adapted to a closed environment while the habitat categories 'open' and 'mixed' seem compatible with previous paleoecological attempts. reported for Arctodus simus lack of predatory adaptations in the long bones and an omnivorous diet, which has also been proposed for Arctotherium species in general (Prevosti and Vizcaíno 2006;Figueirido and Soibelzon 2010;Prevosti and Martin 2013;Soibelzon et al 2009;2014). Arnaudo et al (2016) proposed for Arctotherium tarijense an increased ability to cope with a variety of environments based on the inner ear morphology thus supporting our predicted mixed categorization also for the other Arctotherium species.…”

Presence of <em>Arctotherium</em> (Carnivora, Ursidae, Tremarctinae) in a pre-cultural level of Baño Nuevo-1 cave (Central Patagonia, Chile)

“…As said before, the wear patterns and dental pathologies observed in different samples indicate an omnivorous diet with non-negligible meat consumption, including bones (Prevosti & Vizcaíno, 2006;Figueirido & Soibelzon, 2010;Martín, 2013). In fact, most of the known Arctotherium angustidens remains have broken teeth's, most likely due to chewing on hard bones (Soibelzon et al, 2009;Figueirido & Soibelzon, 2010).…”