THE WORLD OF BEARS
The purpose of this page is to attract people who love bears, both live ones and teddy bears. There are lots of pictures, educational information, articles, fun facts, poetry, maybe a little trivia, and, of course, many short stories to read and enjoy.
Bears share their origins with the dog family. Their most primal known ancestors were the miacids, small, tree-climbing carnivores. From these developed dogs, bears, foxes, and wolves. Most researchers agree that the first "bearlike dog" roamed North America 27 million years ago. (Some dogs even resemble bears, like the Newfoundland in this picture.)
The first true bear, terrier-sized URSAVUS ELEMENSUS, lived in subtropical Europe about 20 million years ago, in the Miocene period. Not until the Pliocene epoch, 14 million years later, did a bear of any significant size emerge.
One of the smallest Pliocene bears, PROTERSIS, is regarded as the direct ancestor of the bear as we know it today. PROTERSIS died out about two and a half million years ago, between the end of the Pliocene and the beginning of the Pleistocene epoch.
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