Agriotheriini is an extinct tribe of ailuropodine bears from the middle Neogene to early Quaternary periods, with fossils found from Eurasia, Africa, and North America.
| Agriotheriini Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
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| Skeletal remains of Indarctos arctoides displayed in National Archaeological Museum (Madrid) | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Family: | Ursidae |
| Subfamily: | Ailuropodinae |
| Tribe: | †Agriotheriini Hendey, 1972 |
| Genera | |
| Synonyms | |
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Taxonomy
The tribe Agriotheriini consists of the three (perhaps four) genera
- Agriotherium
- Huracan
- Indarctos
- Miomaci (possibly).
The taxonomy of these bears has variously placed some of the genera in other bear lineages such as Hemicyoninae and Ursavinae.[1][2]
Recent papers support their inclusion with giant pandas as members of Ailuropodinae based on diagnostic features like
- large cheek teeth
- parastyle fourth premolar with an enlarged inner lobe
- wide first and second molars being
- high mandible, with respect to the lower tooth row.
They are unlike their closest living relative, the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) which evolved into a highly specialized bamboo-eater: The evolution of agriotheriins lead to the group becoming large, hypercarnivorous bears that had adaptations of cursoriality unique in the evolutionary history of bears.[3][4]