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© Guillermo de Anda Alanis/Yucatan Autonomous University
Underwater archaeologists have discovered the skulls of four Arctotherium - a genus of short-faced bear that went extinct 11,300 years ago - 42 metres down in a submerged cave on the Yucatan peninsula, Mexico.

The 25-30 cm long skulls belong to two adult bears - one of each sex - and two bears that had not reached full maturity. Guillermo de Anda Alanis and his team from the Yucatan Autonomous University discovered them whilst diving in a cavern. Skeletal remains of five humans were also found nearby. Dating of the human skeletons will establish if the two finds are related.

The skulls will force a rethink of bear biogeography in the Americas - Arctotherium was previously known to only reside in South America. The only representative of the short-faced bear family alive today is the spectacled bear of Venezuela.

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