Page 188 - The Dinosaur Book and Other Wonders of the Prehistoric World (DK-Smithsonian)
P. 188

Powerful predators








                                                                                             Andrewsarchus

                                                          Barbourofelis










                                                                                   The jaw had
                                                                                flesh-piercing teeth
                                                                                    at the front,
                                                                                 but bone-crushing
                                                                                 teeth at the back.


                                                                  Big plates of bone   Each foot had four
                                                                  extending from the lower   toes tipped with
                                                                  jaw protected the very   small, blunt hooves.
                                                                  long, fragile canine teeth.

                                                                Arctodus




                                        At about 111/4 ft (3.4 m)
                                          long, Arctodus was the
                                          largest bear ever known.




                                 Ursus spelaeus










                            Also known as the cave bear,
                            Ursus spelaeus lived at the
                            same time as ice-age humans,
                            and was probably one of their
                            most dangerous predators.






           The giant herbivores that took the place of          its time. But by about 11 million years ago,
           extinct plant-eating dinosaurs were preyed           these animals had been displaced by the true
           upon by a variety of big, heavily armed              carnivores—the group that now includes cats,
           hunters. The earliest of these were doglike          dogs, bears, and hyenas. The most fearsome
           animals called creodonts like Hyaenodon,             of these hunters—Barbourofelis and the
    186    which was probably the fastest predator of           saber-toothed cat Smilodon—had long,





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