By: Eric Liao

30 million years ago, a primordial bear that closely resembled a raccoon roamed across rivers in modern day North Carolina. By the river, paleontologists found a perfectly preserved fossil of this racoon-like bear.

The paleontologist said that the fossils they found told a lot of stories. For example, it was clear that the raccoon-like bear died young because it got blood infection from chewing on hard pit foods. The bear most likely ate mollusk shells. This was determined after the paleontologist ran a dental examination on the bear and found broken teeth. The bear died of a blood infection due to this injury.

The primordial bear’s fossil appeared in North America although people once thought it was from Europe. Although this specific species of bear died out, they helped with the evolution of modern-day bears.