Bears appear
Ursavus, the dawn bear, is the size of a small dog and begins a lineage of omnivorous giants.
- When
- —
- Duration
- 15 million years
- Known to
- ± 2 million years
- Era
- Miocene, Cenozoic
Ursavus, from the early Miocene of Eurasia, is the earliest recognisable bear — small, omnivorous, and with the crushing molars that distinguish bears from other carnivorans. The family stays modest in size for most of the Miocene before producing the enormous short-faced bears and, much later, the polar bear. Bears are the least carnivorous of the carnivorans, and their dental shift toward crushing rather than shearing is what allows the diet breadth that made them successful.