祖熊属(学名:Ursavus)是熊科已灭绝的一个属,生活于2300万至530万年前中新世的北美和欧亚大陆[2][3],是现代熊属生物的祖先[4]。它在2000万年前从亚洲大陆迁徙到北美[5]

祖熊属
化石时期:23–5.3 Ma
科学分类 编辑
界: 动物界 Animalia
门: 脊索动物门 Chordata
纲: 哺乳纲 Mammalia
目: 食肉目 Carnivora
科: 熊科 Ursidae
属: 祖熊属 Ursavus
Schlosser, 1899
模式种
Ursavus brevirhinus
Hofmann, 1887
Species[1]
  • Ursavus brevirhinus (Hofmann, 1887)
  • Ursavus primaevus (Gaillard, 1899)
  • Ursavus intermedius (Koenigswald, 1925)
  • Ursavus pawniensis (Frick, 1926)
  • Ursavus ehrenbergi (Brunner, 1942)
  • Ursavus sylvestris (Qiu & Qi, 1990)
  • Ursavus isorei (Ginsburg & Morales, 1998)
  • Ursavus tedfordi (Zhanxiang et al., 2014)

该属共发现11种,总体来看,其体型小,与现代的相似。[4] 黎明熊(U. elmensis[6]是该属第一个种[7][8]。但后来它和U. depereti一起被划出本属,黎明熊分入安卢熊属(Ballusia),后者则被分入郊熊猫属(Agriarctos[4]

2006年7月中国甘肃临夏回族自治州广河县官坊乡槐沟村发现的戴氏祖熊(U. tedfordi)的头骨化石,为世界上首次发现的完整祖熊头骨[1][4]。1985年山东临朐县山旺发现的东方祖熊(U. orientalis)化石保存情况也很好[9]。但有研究者认为东方祖熊其实不属于祖熊属,而是属于安卢熊属[1]

参考文献

  1. ^ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Qiu, Zhan-Xiang; et al. A Late Miocene Ursavus skull from Guanghe, Gansu, China. Vertebrata PalAsiatica. 2014, 52 (3): 265–302. 
  2. ^ Kurten, Bjorn. Pleistocene bears of North America I: Genus Tremarctos, spectacled bears. Acta Zool. Fenn. 1966, 115: 1–120. 
  3. ^ Crusafont, M.; Kurten, B. Bears and bear-dogs from the Vallesian of the Valles-Penedes basin, Spain. Acta Zool. Fenn. 1976, 144: 1–29. 
  4. ^ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 古脊椎动物与古人类研究所. 古脊椎所发现现生熊类的最近祖先化石. 中国科学院. 2014-08-04 [2021-06-04]. (原始内容存档于2021-06-05). 
  5. ^ Zhanxiang, Qiu. Dispersals of Neogene carnivorans between Asia and North America. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 2003, 279 (279): 18–31. doi:10.1206/0003-0090(2003)279<0018:C>2.0.CO;2. 
  6. ^ Derocher, Andrew E.; Ian Stirling. Factors affecting the evolution and behavioral ecology of the modern bears. Bears: Their Biology and Management. A selection of papers from the Eighth International Conference on Bear Research and Management. February 1989, 8: 189–204 (1990). JSTOR 3872919. 
  7. ^ McLellan, Bruce. A review of bear evolution (PDF). [Proceedings of the] International Conference on Bear Research and Management. 1994, 9 (1): 85–96 [2021-06-04]. (原始内容存档 (PDF)于2017-11-15). 
  8. ^ Derocher, A. E.; Lynch, W. Polar Bears: A complete guide to their biology and behavior. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. 2012. 
  9. ^ Yang, Hong; Shipu Yang. The Shanwang fossil biota in eastern China: a Miocene Konservat-Lagerstätte in lacustrine deposits. Lethaia. December 1994, 27 (4): 345–354. doi:10.1111/j.1502-3931.1994.tb01585.x.