Ancient 'Dog-Bear' Found
Ancient 'Dog-Bear' Discovered in Catalonia, Lived 16 Million Years Ago
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Scientists have identified a new species of 'bear-dog' that roamed what is now Catalonia roughly 16 million years ago. The animal, named *Ammitocyon elisabethae*, was an apex predator weighing between 230 and 250 kilograms — about the size of a large grizzly bear — and belonged to an extinct family called *Amphicyonidae*, El Periódico reported.
The discovery was made at Els Casots, a fossil site in Subirats (Alt Penedès) considered one of the most important windows into prehistoric fauna in southeastern Europe. Researchers from the Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont (ICP) led the find, according to Levante.
What Exactly Is a Bear-Dog and Why It Matters
Despite the nickname, bear-dogs are neither bears nor dogs. They belong to the extinct family *Amphicyonidae*. They had the heavy, stocky body of a bear and the long limbs and snout of a large dog. *Ammitocyon elisabethae* is a newly identified branch of this family — one that did not match any known genus, Diario de Mallorca reported.
Its teeth tell an especially important story. Lead researcher Joan Madurell-Malapeira noted that *Ammitocyon* had 'shearing' teeth built almost entirely for slicing meat. That makes it a 'hypercarnivore' — far more specialized than other bear-dogs, which also ate plants and fruit. The animal's name honors 'Ammit,' the ancient Egyptian deity known as the 'Devourer of the Dead.'
Els Casots: A 16-Million-Year-Old Ecosystem Frozen in Stone
The Els Casots site has yielded over 3,000 cataloged fossils and remains of more than 40 vertebrate species from a single excavation campaign. That includes primitive rhinos, early deer, and ancestral elephants. The site captures one specific moment in the Miocene epoch, making it almost unique in Europe, according to La Provincia.
Sixteen million years ago, the Penedès region looked nothing like today. It was a warm, humid landscape of dense forests and open floodplains. Madurell-Malapeira has described Els Casots as 'a window into a lost world where Catalonia was a subtropical paradise.' The site is officially protected as a Cultural Asset of National Interest by the Catalan government, La Opinión de Málaga noted.
Decades of Digging Led to This Single Rare Specimen
The road to this discovery was long. Excavations at Els Casots began in 1989. The ICP resumed intensive digging in 2018 with support from the Subirats City Council. Researchers then spent years cleaning a near-complete lower jaw and several teeth in the lab before realizing the specimen was unlike anything previously described, Diario Córdoba reported.
The formal scientific description of *Ammitocyon elisabethae* was published in the *Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology* in May 2023. The discovery was an international effort. Bastien Mennecart of the Natural History Museum Basel and Floréal Solé of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences helped classify the species and place it in the evolutionary tree, according to El Periódico Mediterráneo.
Discovery Fuels Funding, Tourism, and Future Excavations
The find has already had real-world effects. The municipality of Subirats plans to expand its Els Casots interpretation center, and local tourism officials project a 20% rise in paleontology-driven visits to the region. The 'Projecte Casots' has now secured funding through 2028, LNE reported.
Researchers estimate that roughly 70% of the fossil-bearing rock layers at Els Casots remain unexcavated. Scientists say the bear-dog find shows that Europe — not just Asia or North America — was a key center where the *Amphicyonidae* family evolved and diversified. More species, and perhaps more surprises, may still be buried there, according to Diario de Ibiza.
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