''Agriarctos'' is an extinct

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

panda The giant panda (''Ailuropoda melanoleuca''), also known as the panda bear (or simply the panda), is a bear species endemic to China. It is characterised by its bold black-and-white animal coat, coat and rotund body. The name "giant panda" is ...

from the Middle to Late

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...

, approximately 8-18

million years ago The abbreviation Myr, "million years", is a unit of a quantity of (i.e. ) years, or 31.556926 teraseconds. Usage Myr (million years) is in common use in fields such as Earth science and cosmology. Myr is also used with Mya (million years ago). ...

. This genus and its

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

''A. gaali'' was established based on fossils from

Hatvan Hatvan is a town in Heves county, Hungary. Hatvan is the Hungarian word for "sixty". Etymology Hatvan is the Hungarian word for "sixty". It is a common urban legend that the town got this name because it is 60 km from Budapest, but in fact the na ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

, and ''A. vighi'' based on fossils from

Rózsaszentmárton Rózsaszentmárton is a village in Heves County, Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romani ...

Miklós Kretzoi Miklós Kretzoi (9 February 1907 – 15 March 2005) was a Hungarian geologist, paleontologist and paleoanthropologist and Széchenyi Prize winner. Exhibition in the Hungarian National Museum, 9 February - 24 May 2004 Kretzoi studied A ...

proposed ''Agriarctos'' was closely related with ''

Agriotherium ''Agriotherium'' is an extinct genus of bears whose fossils are found in Miocene through Pleistocene-aged strata of North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. This long-lived genus persisted from at least ~11.6–2.5 Mya. Materials from the late ...

''. Previously published, ''Ursavus depereti'' was assigned to ''Agriarctos'' by Kretzoi, but now proved to be

polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage of organisms or other evolving elements that is of mixed evolutionary origin. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as homoplasies, which are explained as a result of converg ...

. ''Agriarctos beatrix'' was published in 2011 as a new species of ''Agriarctos''. It was later erected as a new genus ''

Kretzoiarctos ''Kretzoiarctos'' is an extinct bear genus from the European Miocene. It consists of ''Kretzoiarctos beatrix'', an ancestor of the extant giant panda. Description ''Kretzoiarctos beatrix'' was originally described in 2011 as ''Agriarctos beatr ...

'', which was named after Kretzoi.

References

Miocene bears {{carnivora-stub