Short-faced Bear
Arctodus simus
     This bear seems to have been mainly a flesh-eater and was by far the most powerful land predator during the Ice Age in North America.  It was 1.5 meters at the shoulder and 3.0 meters tall when standing on it’s hind legs. It may have attacked bison, deer, and horses. The largest known skull of arctodus was found by a Yukon gold miner.  The short-faced bear weighed in at around 1,660 lbs. Another fossil from southern Saskatchewan indicates that arctodus lived there more than 70,000 years ago. This species ranged the high grasslands of western North America from Alaska to Mexico, while a lighter-built species (Arctodus pristinus) with smaller teeth inhabited the more heavily wooded Atlantic coastal region. The short-faced bear became extinct some 12,500 years ago, perhaps partly because some of its large prey died out earlier, and partly because of competition with the smaller, more herbivorous brown bears that entered North America from Eurasia.