The Gabe Marx-alarium

rhamphotheca:

“Bear Dogs” (family Amphicyonidae) 

… an extinct family of large terrestrial carnivores belonging to the suborder Caniformia (meaning “dog-like”) and which inhabited North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa from the Middle Eocene subepoch to the Pleistocene epoch 46.2—1.8 Mya, existing for approximately 44.4 million years. Amphicyonids, often referred to as “bear dogs”, crossed from Europe to North America during the Miocene epoch and are considered an Old World taxon.

(skeleton of Amphicyon ingens, by Ghedoghedo)

Amphicyonids were as small as 5 kg (11 lb) and as large as 100 to 600 kg (220 to 1,300 lb) and evolved from wolf-like to bear-like. The diet of the amphicyonids was fully carnivorous as opposed to hypercarnivorous to mesocarnivorous in Canidae. While amphicyonids have traditionally been viewed as closely related to ursids (bears), some evidence suggests that they may instead be basal caniforms. (Hunt, 2004b). They were about as tall as the American black bear and were most likely ambushers because their legs were made for short, sudden bursts of speed. Bear-dog also nested their young in underground burrows…

(read more: Wikipedia)     

I’ll take 9 please