Kolponomos is an extinct genus of carnivoran mammal that existed in the Late Arikareean North American Land Mammal Age, early Miocene epoch, about 20 million years ago.
Fossils were found on the Olympic Peninsula and along the Pacific coast of North America. It was a coastal animal that foraged for hard-shelled invertebrates.
Kolponomos used its lower jaw to pry shellfish off rocks, with its neck providing more power, much like a sabertooth cat, to crush whatever was caught. Thus the so-called “otter-bear” combined the killing techniques of both sea otters and Smilodon in one strange package.
http://www.eartharchives.org/articles/killer-bite-of-the-otter-bear/
Kolponomos is an extinct genus of carnivoran mammal that existed in the Late Arikareean North American Land Mammal Age, early Miocene epoch, about 20 million years ago.
Fossils were found on the Olympic Peninsula and along the Pacific coast of North America. It was a coastal animal that foraged for hard-shelled invertebrates.
Kolponomos used its lower jaw to pry shellfish off rocks, with its neck providing more power, much like a sabertooth cat, to crush whatever was caught. Thus the so-called “otter-bear” combined the killing techniques of both sea otters and Smilodon in one strange package.
http://www.eartharchives.org/articles/killer-bite-of-the-otter-bear/
(post is archived)