That’s what I’m choosing to christen the new giant bear fossil discovered in the Arctic. I’m taking it from the novel THE TERROR, by author Dan Simmons. Cleverly, the TERROR is the name of a ship, a real-life ship that carried a real-life expeditionary crew into the Arctic in the mid 1800s, a ship and a crew that completely disappeared. It also serves as the name of a monster that is stalking the crew, picking them off one by one. This monster is both a mythological, supernatural entity possessing infernal intelligence, and a surviving prehistoric ancestor of the polar bear, larger and more fearsome than its descendent. It’s a good book and I recommend it to anyone who hasn’t read it.
The discovery of a skull belonging to just such a monster bear in remote Alaska would seem to confirm the existence of creatures dubbed ‘King Bears” by the locals, and it is entirely possible that these animals still exist, i.e. they’re still alive and prowling around out there. (There are also accounts of such gigantic bruins in Siberia.) The skull possesses morphological differences from a typical polar bear skull. It’s also significantly bigger, which would suggest an ANIMAL that is significantly bigger. Considering that the polar bear is already the largest species of bear in the world, that would mean these “King Bears,” or King Terror (we must all start using this new nom de plume for the animal if we want it to stick), would have to be one frikkin’ huge and scary predator.
Kinda glad I don’t live in remote Alaska.
