''Miomaci'' (Latinized el, mio, italic=yes, abbreviation of "

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 ...

" + hu, maci, italic=yes "little bear") is a genus of herbivorous ailuropodine bear from the late Miocene of Hungary. It is known only from teeth and jaws, but these indicate it was significantly smaller than its close relative ''

Indarctos ''Indarctos'' is an extinct genus of bear, endemic to North America, Europe and Asia during the Miocene. It was present from ~11.1 to 5.3 Ma, existing for approximately . The oldest member is from Arizona (~11.1—7.7 Ma) and youngest is (~9.0� ...

'', which could reach 265.74 kg.Abella, J., Valenciano, A., Pérez-Ramos, A., Montoya, P., & Morales, J. (2013). On the Socio-Sexual Behaviour of the Extinct Ursid Indarctos arctoides: An Approach Based on Its Baculum Size and Morphology. PLoS ONE, 8(9), e73711. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0073711

Discovery and Naming

''Miomaci'' is known from dental remains of one individual including a left

maxilla The maxilla (plural: ''maxillae'' ) in vertebrates is the upper fixed (not fixed in Neopterygii) bone of the jaw formed from the fusion of two maxillary bones. In humans, the upper jaw includes the hard palate in the front of the mouth. The t ...

with P3-M2, left upper canine, 2 left

incisor Incisors (from Latin ''incidere'', "to cut") are the front teeth present in most mammals. They are located in the premaxilla above and on the mandible below. Humans have a total of eight (two on each side, top and bottom). Opossums have 18, whe ...

s, right M1, right M2, right p1, fragment of right

mandible In anatomy, the mandible, lower jaw or jawbone is the largest, strongest and lowest bone in the human facial skeleton. It forms the lower jaw and holds the lower tooth, teeth in place. The mandible sits beneath the maxilla. It is the only movabl ...

with p3-m1, left hemimandible with alveoli with p1-p4, m1 (separated), m2-m3. The material is stored in the Geological Museum of the Geological and Geophysical Institute of Hungary. The specimens are known from the

Edelény Formation Edelény is a town in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county, Northern Hungary. It lies in the valley of Bódva River, north of the county seat, Miskolc. The historic L'Huillier-Coburg Palace is located there. History The area has been inhabited since a ...

near the town of Rudabánya, Hungary and date to the

Vallesian The Vallesian age is a period of geologic time (11.6–9.0 Ma) within the Miocene used more specifically with European Land Mammal Ages. It precedes the Turolian age and follows the Astaracian age. The so-called Vallesian Crisis resulted in the e ...

age of the

late Miocene The Late Miocene (also known as Upper Miocene) is a sub-epoch of the Miocene epoch (geology), Epoch made up of two faunal stage, stages. The Tortonian and Messinian stages comprise the Late Miocene sub-epoch, which lasted from 11.63 Ma (million ye ...

. The generic name is derived from '

' and Maci'', the Hungarian word for 'little bear' or 'teddy bear'. The specific name, ''pannonicum'', is Latin for 'comes from

Pannonia Pannonia (, ) was a province of the Roman Empire bounded on the north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia. Pannonia was located in the territory that is now wes ...

', the Roman province in which

Rudabánya Rudabánya is a town in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county, Hungary. The town territory was the location of the discovery of a hominid from 12 million years ago, '' Dryopithecus brancoi'' (1969). International relations Rudabánya is twinned with: ...

is located.

References

Miocene bears Miocene mammals of Europe Prehistoric carnivoran genera {{paleo-carnivora-stub