9 Reasons Why the Short-Faced Bear May Have Been the Most Terrifying Animal in History

Of all of the ancient world’s megafauna, the Short-Faced Bear was one of the scariest examples of evolutionary madness, a humongous bear on long legs that towered over just about any animal of the Pleistocene.

Did you know that this prehistoric predator actually halted the flow of human migration, stopping our ancestors in their tracks at the Bering land bridge? How about the fact that they could run forty miles an hour, galloping across the ancient landscape on insanely long legs, and even following their prey high up into the trees? Or, that their jaws were tough enough to pulverize bones into smithereens? Short-Faced Bears also dominated Dire Wolves and Sabre-Toothed Cats, pushing around these apex predators and stealing their prey.

They were ghouls of the prehistoric world, spreading all the way from Mexico to the Yukon and stalking ancient animals and even humans! Was the Short-Faced Bear the most terrifying animal in history? Here are nine reasons why this behemoth bear deserves the title.

9. They Were Prolific.

Short-Faced Bears were not only ultra-deadly hunting machines, but they were also just about everywhere in North America during the Pleistocene. In fact, Short-Faced Bears were just as common as your run-of-the-mill average bear is today, only a super-sized, nightmarish version.

We know that these bears had a colossal footprint because their remains are scattered far and wide all over the continent. From the frigid Yukon territory all the way down to Mexico, the Short-Faced Bear roamed the grasslands searching for prey.

What makes it all the more impressive is the sheer fact that this animal could adapt to different types of climates. Like many big predators of the time, climate change is what most likely did this big beast in.

Short-Faced Bears needed dozens of pounds of meat per day to survive, and when the herbivores that made up their preferred food source dried up, the Short-Faced Bears followed suit… but before they kicked the bucket, they rubbed shoulders with our ancestors.

8. They Co-Existed With Ancient People.

Unlike the giant dinosaurs that preceded them, Short-Faced Bears overlapped with the first ancient people. The Clovis People of North America were especially acquainted with this big beast, and the two sets of predators would often squabble, killing each other over food or territory.

One famous bloodbath happened in Lubbock Lake, Texas, where the Clovis People slaughtered Short-Faced Bears, possibly for food or simply to get rid of the competition.

Since Short-Faced Bears went extinct only eleven thousand years ago, their interaction with humans was significant. Excavations indicated that the Short-Faced Bear and Clovis People lived in close proximity to one another for many years.

Although Short-Faced Bears don’t show up in a lot of early art, like Woolly Mammoths and Sabre-Toothed Cats, there is every reason to believe that these huge bears had a significant impact on early human life.

They also consumed plenty of the Clovis People’s food sources and would have been part predator, part pest for our ancestors, as our number seven pick illustrate.

7. They Ate Tons Of Meat

Short-Faced Bears weren’t exactly known for having small appetites. In fact, these voracious carnivores loved to eat as much meat as they could force into their bodies, often chowing down on up to forty pounds of meat per day to survive.

While the dinosaurs before them certainly ate a lot more protein-packed animal flesh, forty pounds of meat per day isn’t something to scoff at.

It’s the equivalent weight of a small sheep, per bear, every single day. The Short-Faced Bear evolved to fine-tune its hunting skills to match its unquenchable taste for meat.

The insatiable creature had protuberant eyes that were well-equipped to see far off into the distance and spot prey.

Additionally, the Short-Faced Bear was fast and deadly, allowing it to catch up with even quick prey, and certainly giving it an advantage over larger, slower prey like Mammoths.

The most chilling aspect of the Short-Faced Bear had to be its mighty jaw, a steel-trap that crushed bones into a fine powder and mined the marrow inside. Short-Faced Bears were prehistoric assassins, quenching their bloodthirst all over the continent.

Our number six pick proves that crossing from sea to shining sea was easy for Short-Faced Bears. They were built for distance.

6. They Had Freakishly Long Legs.

Normal bears are scary enough, but when you take your average muscle-bound predator and add a whole ton of length, you have something even more terrifying than usual.

The Short-Faced Bear was exactly that ancient animal, often described as a kind of grizzly bear on stilts. This bone-chilling creature stood an astounding twelve-feet tall when stretched to its full glory on its hind legs. That’s about half the size of your average London double-decker bus.

Its lengthy legs gave it another super-power, too, to run incredibly fast to catch up with its prey. Picture this; you’re an early human simply sharpening up your prehistoric tools to catch a Mammoth or two when you hear a rustling behind you—an enormous bear blots out the sun.

There’s nowhere to run because the terrifying thing stands tall on legs that stretch almost half the length of its body.

That’s just one of the many reasons why early humans feared the Short-Faced Bear, and actually, this massive meat-eater might have changed the game for humans forever, if not for some of our courageous ancestors.

In fact, the Short-Faced Bear was our ancestors’ greeting committee on their way across the Bering land bridge.

5. They Stopped Human Migration In Its Tracks.

Yup, the Short-Faced Bear stopped the flow of human people into North America, by acting as a horrifying gatekeeper at the Bering land bridge. The Short-Faced Bear was the most massive mammalian carnivore ever to set foot in North America, and it had no intention of letting humans slip in without a fight.

4. They Were North America’s Largest Land Carnivores.

North America was no stranger to the megafauna that roamed its wide-open plains after the extinction of the dinosaurs, but the Short-Faced Bear was in a special league of its own.

This creature claimed the title of being North America’s largest land carnivore, and it was the undisputed king of its realm during the Pleistocene.

It’s mighty reign lasted well over a million years, although nobody knows for sure. Some speculate that the Short-Faced Bear might have been an omnivore and whether it liked a little raspberry jam to go with its bloody rare Mastodon steaks might remain a mystery forever.

As for the bear’s size, the proof is in its remains. These massive monsters clocked in at two-thousand five hundred pounds of pure sinew and muscle, stood twelve-feet high on gigantic legs, and had a staggering vertical arm reach of fourteen feet.

That made them the densest, biggest, and baddest meat-eaters on the continent, and in direct competition with human beings. Not only did humans spar with the Short-Faced Bear, but other prehistoric animals also had their own trouble with the big bears, precisely Dire Wolves, and Sabre-Toothed Cats, as our number three pick proves.

3. They Bullied Dire Wolves And Sabre-Toothed Cats

If you really want to get an idea of exactly how completely badass and scary the Short-Faced Bear was, just take a look at the prehistoric critters that it bossed around. Short-Faced Bears were straight-up bullies, and when they were too lazy or tired to hunt for their own prey, they just showed up and took someone else’s! There’s evidence to suggest that Short-Faced Bears were also kleptoparasites, a term used to describe animals that bully others into giving up their prey. Essentially, the Short-Faced Bear showed up at the site of a fresh kill and scared off Sabre-Toothed Cats or Dire Wolves with its humongous size and straight-up scary claws, jaws, and freakish legs. The smaller predators would turn tail and run, and the Short-Faced Bear would be left to enjoy all of the spoils for itself.

This could also explain the fierce rivalry between Short-Faced Bears and early humans, as our Clovis People ancestors would not have taken kindly to the thieving Short-Faced Bears. Unfortunately, where humans excelled in brainpower, Short-Faced Bears had brawn lockdown.

Years of evolution and their long reign gave Short-Faced Bears a substantial advantage as apex killing machines, as our number two pick proves.

2. They Were Deadly And Fast

In addition to being the most massive living bear in recorded history, the Short-Faced Bear was also the fastest, covering vast amounts of ground on its enormous legs.

This monstrous mammal could sprint quicker than any creature its size a fantastic feat when you consider the fact that it weighed over two thousand pounds. No other enormous land animal of the time had the speed of the Short-Faced Bear, enabling it to be a deadly and precise hunter.

Once you were in the sights of the Short-Faced Bear, there was no escape. To dump some heavy-duty fuel on the fire, Short-Faced Bears could climb trees.

That meant that even if you got out of the gristly reach of the twelve-foot bear on the ground, you still had to contend with it up in the prehistoric canopy.

That meant, short of the depths of the deepest ocean, there was really no escape from the horrific Short-Faced Bear… If there was one animal you didn’t want having you for a snack, it was the Short-Faced Bear. These crazy creatures were horrifying hunters, as is illustrated by our number one pick.

1. They Were Horrifying Hunters.

The Short-Faced Bear was nothing shy of a prehistoric murder machine, a nightmare of evolution that allowed it to hunt and kill with tremendous skill and speed. Let’s start with the speed; Short-Faced Bears could run up to forty miles an hour.

Considering the fact that they stood an average of twelve-feet high standing up, this meant that they could cover enormous stretches of ground in a single gallop. Prey never even stood a chance when stacked up against the Short-Faced Bear! Next, let’s talk about its elongated limbs- arms that stretched a gristly fourteen feet up into the air, topped off with razor-sharp claws capable of cutting through even the thickest hide.

Finally, the Short-Faced Bear had an amazingly powerful jaw full of ghastly-sharp teeth with unbelievable biting power. This monstrous maw could sever tendons like they were made out of jelly, and crush big bone into smithereens.

Prey that found themselves on the business end of the claws and jaws of the Short-Faced Bear were doomed to experience a deadly and gristly end, one way or another. Experts think that Short-Faced Bears loved to snack on marrow, so their massive teeth would be used to pierce bones and suck out the good stuff.

What do you think was…or is…the most terrifying animal in existence? Let us know in the comments below.