Afroursidae

The Afroursidae is the only family of Cenozoic afrocarnivores to die out. They live for 19 million years, from the mid-paleocene to the mid-eocene. There were only 4 species in one genus: Afroursus. A. gulo was the first species and the longest lived, It varied from 1 to 2 feet long during its 9 million year history. The next species, A. arctos, was usually 3.5 feet long. The third, A. callisto, was 5 feet long, and its skull looks somewhat reptilian (except for the teeth and nature of the jaw joint) because it has very high eye sockets. It only lived for 3 million years. Finally, there was A. arcas, 7.5 feet long, lasting for two million years and having no descendants. They probably died out as their ambush style tactics did not work on late eocene prey.