Gigantic bear Huracan borissiaki sp. nov. (Ursidae, Carnivora) from the Terminal Miocene of the Northern Caucasus (Russia, Stavropol Territory).

Abstract

The mandible of a gigantic bear from the terminal Miocene of the Kosyakino quarry in the Stavropol Territory of Russia is described. The presence of a premasseteric fossa of the mandible and characteristic features in the structure of the lower cheek teeth (P₄ with posterior cingulid cusp and without medial ridge, M₁ with elongated paraconid, large metaconid, double entoconid and developed mesoconid, and M₁-M₂ without cingulids) allow to attribute the studied specimen to the genus Huracan and to erect a new species, H. borissiaki.