Bears first emerged as a distinct family in early Miocene Europe. The earliest recognised species, Ursavus elmensis (sometimes assigned to the genus Ballusia), was tiny in comparison to its living relatives, resembling a wolverine. Other species of Ursavus lived throughout Eurasia and ranged from the size of a cat to that of a wolf.
The first major split in the family was between the ailuropodines and other bears. Although the only surviving ailuropodine is the herbivorous giant panda, the sub-family once included ferocious predators. Indarctos was a mid-sized omnivore with a wide distribution, found in Eurasia, North Africa, and North America from the middle to late Miocene. Its giant relative Agriotherium had long limbs and short, powerful jaws, suitable for grinding tough plants and bone. It lived in Africa and Eurasia during the late Miocene. Huracan was another large, long-legged ailuropodine with a strong bite, which lived in East Asia and North America from the late Miocene to early Pleistocene.
The next division was between the ursine bears and the tremarctine or short-faced bears of the Americas. The latter sub-family include the living Tremarctos ornatus, the spectacled bear, and its extinct relative T. floridanus, the Florida spectacled bear, which lived in the southern United States and northern Mexico during the late Pleistocene. They evolved from Plionarctus, which lived in the United States from the late Miocene to the early Pleistocene. Another of its descendants, Arctodus pristinus, the ‘lesser short-faced bear’ was about the size of a modern brown bear and lived in the grasslands and flatwoods of the eastern United States during the early Pleistocene. A trend towards greater size led to the evolution of the ‘greater short-faced bear’ A. simus which spread through North America during the middle Pleistocene, lasting until the late Pleistocene. In South America, Arcototherium followed an opposite trend, starting with the huge and highly predatory A. angustidens from the ‘southern cone’ of South America in the middle Pleistocene, and culminating in the smaller and more herbivorous A. wingei, which survived in northern South America and Central America until the early Holocene. Despite the name, the jaws of short-faced bears were just as long as those of other bears, but appear shorter due to being relatively deep.
The earliest known ursine was the small Aurorarctos, the ‘dawn bear’ (a name also sometimes used for Ursavus elmensis), from the Midwestern United States during the middle Miocene. It gave rise to Protarctos, a larger bear which spread across North America and Eurasia during the Pliocene and early Pleistocene. Protarctos evolved into Ursus minimus, the Auvergne bear, in Europe. U. minumus in turn evolved into the middle Pleistocene Etruscan bear, U. etruscus, which thrived throughout Eurasia. U. etruscus was the ancestor of the modern brown bear (U. arctos), polar bear (U. maritimus), and late Pleistocene cave bears, U. spelaeus (sometimes interpreted as a species complex, adding U. rossicus, U. ingressus, U. kanivets, U. kudarensis, and U. eremus to the mix). These latter lived in Europe and were generally larger than modern bears. However, brown bears also attained larger sizes in the ice age, such as the ‘steppe brown bear’, U. arctos priscus, of central Europe. A single fragmentary bone from late Pleistocene England has been interpreted as a giant subspecies of polar bear, U. maritimus tyrannus, although it could also be from a huge brown bear.
Ursavus elmensis
ST 7;
DX 12;
IQ 4;
HT 12.
HP 7;
Will 11;
Per 11;
FP 12;
Speed 6.00;
Dodge 10;
Move 6.
SM −1, 40 lbs.
Bite or Claw (14): 1d−3 cutting. Reach C.
Traits: Acute Smell 2; Born Biter 1; Combat Reflexes; Discriminatory Smell; DR 1 (Tough Skin); Night Vision 2; No Fine Manipulators; Semi-Upright; Temperature Tolerance 1; Ultrahearing; Wild Animal.
Skills: Brawling-14; Climbing-15; Stealth-13; Survival (Woodlands)-12.
This profile works without modification for Aurorarctos. For larger species of Ursavus, like U. tedfordi (90 lbs.), raise ST and HP to 9, SM to 0, and damage to 1d−2. Small species, like U. orientalis (10 lbs.) reduce ST and HP to 4, SM to −4, and damage to 1d−5.
Ursus spelaeus
ST 20;
DX 11;
IQ 4;
HT 13.
HP 20;
Will 11;
Per 11;
FP 13;
Speed 6.00;
Dodge 9;
Move 8.
SM +1 (2 hexes), 1,000 lbs.
Bite (13): 2d cutting. Reach C.
Claw (13): 2d cutting. Reach C-1.
Traits: Acute Smell 2; Born Biter 1; Discriminatory Smell; DR 3 (Tough Skin); Enhaced Move 1 (Ground Speed 16); Night Vision 2; No Fine Manipulators; Semi-Upright; Temperature Tolerance 3; Ultrahearing; Wild Animal.
Skills: Brawling-13; Intimidation-12; Stealth-11; Survival (Plains)-12.
This profile represents a male. For a female (500 lbs.) reduce ST and HP to 16, DR to 2, and damage with both bite and claw to 1d+1.
For a male Indarctos (600 lbs.) reduce ST and HP to 17, DR to 2, and damage with both bite and claw to 1d+2. For a female (300 lbs) reduce ST and HP to 13, SM to 0, DR to 2, and damage with both bite and claw to 1d. Claw reach becomes C.
For a male Agriotherium (1,400 lbs.) increase ST and HP to 22 and damage with both bite and claw to 2d+1. Use the male U. spelaeus profile without modification for a female Agriotherium.
For a male Huracan (1,100 lbs.) increase ST and HP to 21 and damage with both bite and claw to 2d+1. For a female (900 lbs) reduce ST and HP to 19.
For a male Tremarctos floridanus (450 lbs.) reduce ST and HP to 15, DR to 2, and damage with both bite and claw to 1d+1. For a female (350 lbs) reduce ST and HP to 14, SM to 0, DR to 2, and damage with both bite and claw to 1d. Claw reach becomes C.
For a male Plionarctus (320 lbs.) reduce ST and HP to 14, SM to 0, DR to 2, and damage with both bite and claw to 1d. For a female (220 lbs) reduce ST and HP to 12, SM to 0, DR to 2, and damage with both bite and claw to 1d−1. Both have claw reach C, and change Survival specialty to (Woodlands).
For a male Arctodus pristinus (700 lbs.) reduce ST and HP to 18 and damage with both bite and claw to 1d+2. For a female (500 lbs) reduce ST and HP to 16, and damage with both bite and claw to 1d+1.
For a male Arctodus simus (1,800 lbs.) increase ST and HP to 24, SM to +2 (3 hexes), DR to 4, and damage with both bite and claw to 2d+2. For a female (1,100 lbs) increase ST and HP to 21.
For a male Arctotherium angustidens (2,100 lbs.) increase ST and HP to 26, SM to +2, DR to 4, and damage with both bite and claw to 2d+3. For a female (1,500 lbs) increase ST and HP to 23, SM to +2 (3 hexes), and damage with both bite and claw to 2d+2.
For a male Arctotherium wingei (260 lbs.) reduce ST and HP to 13, SM to 0, DR to 2, and damage with both bite and claw to 1d. For a female (180 lbs) reduce ST and HP to 11, SM to 0, DR to 1, and damage with both bite and claw to 1d−1. Claw reach for both becomes C.
For a male Protarctos or Ursus minimus (280 lbs.) reduce ST and HP to 13, SM to 0, DR to 2, and damage with both bite and claw to 1d. For a female (200 lbs) reduce ST and HP to 12, SM to 0, DR to 2, and damage with both bite and claw to 1d−1. Claw reach becomes C for all.
Use the Ursus spelaeus profiles for U. etruscus.
For a male Ursus arctus priscus (1,600 lbs.) increase ST and HP to 23, SM to +2, and damage with both bite and claw to 2d+2. For a female (800 lbs) reduce ST and HP to 19. Use these profiles for Ursus maritimus tyrannus if interpreted as a large brown bear. For a polar bear, increase Temperature Tolerance to 4, change Survival specialty to (Arctic), and add Swimming-13 to skills.
