Amphicyonidae (Amphicyonidae) are predators that are the distant ancestors of modern carnivorous mammals. Some amphitenids had an enormous physique and huge size: for example, the North American amphitheater of the species Amphicyon ingens weighed half-tons.

New species found

The amphitonid living in Western Europe in the Middle Miocene was slightly smaller: its weight is estimated at 200 kilograms, which is comparable to the weight of a large male black bear (Ursus americanus).

Judging by the physique of its close relatives, it was a massive animal, more like a bear than a wolf, with a large head, muscular limbs, and a long tail.

Toothed jaw tartar / Photo PeerJ

New species named Tartarocyon cazanaveior Tartar Casion – in honor of Tartarus, a giant cannibal from Basque mythology, and Alan Casan, the owner of an excavated land in the Atlantic Pyrenees. Of particular interest to the find is the absence of many extinct animal fossils in the north of France, so even a single, more or less surviving lower jaw is already an achievement for French paleontology.

Judging by the anatomy of the tartar’s close relatives, this beast can deftly deal with large carcasses: like modern-day bears that never cease to fall, the ancient bear easily tore through even the thickest skin and crushed bones so that it could eat the meat thrown at it. beach.