What is Bear dog?
{{Automatic Taxobox | name = Amphicyonidae | fossil_range = {{Fossil range|42|2.6}}Middle [[Eocene]] – Late [[Pliocene]] | image = Amphicyon_ingens.JPG | image_caption = Skeleton of ''Amphicyon'' | taxon = Amphicyonidae | authority = [[Ernst Haeckel|Haeckel]], 1886 | subdivision_ranks = Subfamilies | subdivision = †[[Amphicyoninae]]<br> †[[Daphoeninae]]<br> †[[Temnocyoninae]] }} The '''Amphicyonidae''' or '''bear dogs''', is an extinct [[Family (biology)|family]] of large [[Terrestrial animal|terrestrial]] [[carnivore]]s. They belonged to the dog-like [[suborder]] [[Caniformia]]. It had a wide distribution in [[North America]], [[Europe]], [[Asia]], and [[Africa]]. They lived from the [[Eocene]] [[Epoch (geology)|epoch]] to the [[Pleistocene]] epoch 46.2 {{ndash}} 1.8 million years ago (mya), for a total of about 44.4 million years or from the [[Palaeocene|Paleocene]] to the [[Quaternary]] period.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://paleodb.org/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?action=checkTaxonInfo&taxon_no=41271&is_real_user=1 |title=Paleobiology Database: Amphicyonidae, age range and collections |access-date=2014-04-26 |archive-date=2012-10-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121016051546/http://paleodb.org/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?action=checkTaxonInfo&taxon_no=41271&is_real_user=1 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Originally they evolved in the [[Old World]], but crossed over to the Americas during the [[Miocene]] epoch. This would happen at a time when crossing was possible via the [[Bering Strait]].<ref name=Hunt1>Hunt, Robert M, Jr. 2003. [http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/dspace/bitstream/2246/447/23/B279a04.pdf Intercontinental migration of large mammalian carnivores: earliest occurrence of the Old World beardog ''Amphicyon'' (Carnivora, Amphicyonidae) in North America]. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. '''279''', 77-115</ref> == References == {{reflist}} [[Category:Caniformia]] [[Category:Fossils]]