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Beardog "Batman Theme" Post

Large light brown dog-like skull with large front teeth in a glass case.

"Na na na na na na na na na na na na BEAR DOG!!!" Our resident carnivores are a lot rarer than the resident herbivores in the fossil record around here. There's a good reason for that. In all animal populations, there are fewer carnivores than herbivores... fewer predators than prey. We had two variations on Bear Dog here: Daphoenodon, and the much larger Ysengrinia. They were the largest carnivores alive in North American during the 20-23 million year-ago time period we feature here at Agate. And after out hunting, they would retire to their batcave... or rather beardogcave. They were the first carnivores in the fossil record to exhibit denning behavior, which was discovered here on 'bear dog hill.' They may have been pretty intimidating, and some of us are glad they're extinct... they're "the carnivore Agate deserves, but not the one it needs right now."

NPS Photo

NPS Photo / Jason Gray

Public domain:Full Granting Rights

Image

Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, Code: AGFO

Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, Sioux County, Nebraska
Latitude: 42.421501159668, Longitude: -103.744003295898

NPS.gov Collection

07/23/2021

07/23/2021

Public Can View

Saturday, August 21, 2021 3:29:11 PM

Saturday, August 21, 2021 3:30:15 PM

beardog skull in case.jpg

Canon Canon, Canon EOS M6 Mark II 6400, EF-M18-150mm f/3.5-6.3 IS STM

1/125 sec at f / 3.5

18 mm

ISO 6400

Friday, July 23, 2021 5:54:47 PM

jpg

3.4 MB

2021-07-30T14:32:50-06:00

Scenic