Cephalogale is an extinct genus of hemicyonine bear which lived in the Oligocene and Early Miocene epochs in North America and Europe. It lived from around 28.4—20.0 Mya. Before it was reconsidered to be close to the ancestry of hemicyonines, Cephalogale was once considered to be an ancestor of all bears.[1]

Cephalogale
Temporal range: 28.4–20 Ma early Oligocene to Miocene
Life reconstruction of Cephalogale shareri
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Ursidae
Subfamily: Hemicyoninae
Genus: Cephalogale
Jourdan, 1862
Type species
Cephalogale geoffroyi
Jourdan, 1862
Species

C. shareri (Wang, et al., 2009)
C. gergoviensis (Viret, 1929)
C. ginesticus (Kuss, 1962)
C. geoffroyi (Jourdan, 1862)

Fossil distribution

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Cephalogale dentition, Saint-Gérand-le-Puy (Allier, Auvergne, France)

References

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  1. ^ McLellan B. & Reiner D. C. (1994). "A review of bear evolution". Int. Conf. Bear Res. and Manage. 9(1): 85-89. PDF Archived 2022-10-09 at Ghost Archive