A big omnivore filling a bear-like niche across the northern hemisphere. Descended from very successful family of plantigrade, pig-like omnivores (part of a large, successful herbivore family including big, mastadon-like northern browsers), these are foragers who eat anything they can, and have developed an interesting mode of walking. While the rear legs sit flat-footed, the forelimbs sport large, hoof-like claws on articulate toes, specially developed for grasping plants, sloth-like, and digging for tubers and grubs. (forward feet digitigrade, rear plantigrade, to sum up).
The false-bear's weird stance is partially based on Homalodotherium, a miocene notoungulate from S America, but with the strange dentition of a meat-oriented peccary. Is he too bear-like, though, and not "weird alternate-world-like" enough?
`anmari has been spreading her infectious positivity throughout our community for over 6 years. Throughout this time Ana has been at the core of all things devious, passionately developing an eclectic gallery, helping organise devmeets, participating in chat events and also recently completed dedicating her time as a Community Volunteer. We are absolutely delighted to bestow the Deviousness Award for May 2013 to `anmari, congratulations! Read More
Sta.sh
In a way, it looks like it has a Polar Bear's head and neck, and a Grizzly Bear's body.......
Intelligent psuedo-chalicotheres descended from long limbed/short legged slothlike metatherians. Deforestation in their habitats lead to increased size and a terrestrial lifestlye (with that sickass chalicothere body plan to go with it) and a sort of benign herbivor intelligence. They're exploited as labor by local tribes of troodontoids for millenia, and in the far future are selectively bred as a slave race.