A 3-million-year-old fossil of a gigantic bear discovered in the village of Milia in Grevena in northern Greece proves once again that the Greek palaeo-environment was favorable to the development of creatures of such enormous size. In the past, Grevena scientists have discovered the largest tusks in the world (5.02 m.) in the village of Milia. The scientific name of the gigantic bear is agriotherium, according to Assistant Professor of Paleontology Evangelia Tsoukala at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Speaking in a recent Thessaloniki conference devoted to the study of the bear, Tsoukala also referenced the discovery of a heel of the left tarsus of the first paleolithic agriotherium found in the area. “The size of the heel, which is 25 percent bigger in relation with a brown bear, is indicative of the size of animal,” said Tsoukala. Scientific research has revealed that the agriotherium co-existed with a smaller prehistoric bear known as the ursus etruscus. The two lived in the region of Greece 1.5 million years ago, when there was an abundance of flora in the region and water temperatures were higher than they are today. Tsoukala also discussed the 5,000 deciduous teeth found in the cave of Loutra in Almopia Speleopark in northern Greece. They belong to the ursus ingressus, a species of cave bear which disappeared at the end of the Pleistocene period, approximately 10,000 years ago. Tsoukala’s dream is to found a national museum of natural history in northern Greece that will house the region’s major fossil discoveries.
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