Cave bear
The cave bear is an extinct, prehistoric type of bear. There were at least two species of cave bears: Ursus spelaeus and Ursus deningeri.[1] Some scientists think there were up to 6 different species.[2][3]
Scientists use the term "cave bear" to describe this animal because most cave bear fossils have been found in caves. The animals probably used caves to hibernate.[4]
Cave bear fossils have been found in England, Belgium, Germany, Russia, Spain, Italy, and Greece.[1] In European caves, archeologists have found fossils from over 100,000 cave bears.[1]
Timeline
[change | change source]Scientists think that both the cave bear and the brown bear descended from the Etruscan bear (Ursus etruscus).[5] The last common ancestor of cave bears and brown bears lived between 1.2–1.4 million years ago.[6]
The cave bear lived in Europe and Asia during the Pilocene Epoch (which lasted from around 5.3 million to 2.6 million years ago) and the Pleistocene Epoch (2.6 million to 11,700 years ago).[1]
It became extinct by around 28,000 to 27,000 years ago.[1] This was a slow, gradual process, not a sudden extinction. Humans sometimes hunted the cave bear, but not enough to cause its extinction.[1]
Description
[change | change source]The cave bear's skeleton was similar to the modern brown bear's.[7] The cave bear measured up to 2 meters (6.6 feet) long.[8] Male cave bears weighed around 350 to 600 kg (770 to 1,320 lb).[9] Females weighed 225 to 250 kg (495 to 550 lb).[10]
Diet
[change | change source]Several studies have looked at cave bear fossils to determine what its diet was like.
In a 2009 study, scientists examined the wear patterns on cave bear fossil teeth. According to this study:[11]
A dental microwear analysis of 43 young and adult individuals demonstrate that ... cave bears from Goyet [Cave] (Late Pleistocene, Belgium) were not strictly herbivorous, but had a mixed diet composed of hard items (e.g., possibly bone), invertebrates (e.g., insects), meat (ungulates, small vertebrates), and/or plant matter (hard mast, seeds, herbaceous vegetations, and fruits).
However, another study analyzed the remains from 6 cave bears, found in Romania. It showed that these six bears ate a completely vegetarian diet.[12]
Tubers and other gritty food were probably not part of the cave bear's diet.[13] They definitely ate seed fruits.[14]
References
[change | change source]- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Cave bear | Size, Weight, Extinction, & Facts | Britannica". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2025-12-13.
- ↑ Knapp, Michael (2019-04-21). "From a molecules' perspective – contributions of ancient DNA research to understanding cave bear biology". Historical Biology. 31 (4): 442–447. doi:10.1080/08912963.2018.1434168. ISSN 0891-2963.
- ↑ Barlow, Axel; Paijmans, Johanna L.A.; Alberti, Federica; Gasparyan, Boris; Bar-Oz, Guy; Pinhasi, Ron; Foronova, Irina; Puzachenko, Andrey Y.; Pacher, Martina; Dalén, Love; Baryshnikov, Gennady; Hofreiter, Michael (2021-04-26). "Middle Pleistocene genome calibrates a revised evolutionary history of extinct cave bears". Current Biology. 31 (8): 1771–1779.e7. Bibcode:2021CBio...31E1771B. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2021.01.073. PMID 33592193.
- ↑ "Expedition Magazine | The Cult of the Cave Bear". Expedition Magazine. Retrieved 2025-12-13.
- ↑ Argant A, Crégut-Bonnoure E (1996). "Famille des Ursidae". In Guérin, C., Patou-Mathis, M. (eds.). Les grands mammiferes Plio-Pleistocenes d'Europe. Paris, FR: Masson. pp. 167–177.
- ↑ Loreille, O.; et al. (2001). "Ancient DNA analysis reveals divergence of the cave bear, Ursus spelaeus, and brown bear, Ursus arctos, lineages". Current Biology. 11 (3): 200–203. Bibcode:2001CBio...11..200L. doi:10.1016/S0960-9822(01)00046-X. PMID 11231157.
- ↑ Brown, Gary (1996). Great Bear Almanac. Lyons & Burford. p. 340. ISBN 1-55821-474-7.
- ↑ Palmer, D., ed. (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 217. ISBN 1-84028-152-9.
- ↑ Per Christiansen (1999). "What size were Arctodus simus and Ursus spelaeus (Carnivora: Ursidae)?". Annales Zoologici Fennici. 36 (2): 93–102. JSTOR 23735739.
- ↑ Per Christiansen (1999). "What size were Arctodus simus and Ursus spelaeus (Carnivora: Ursidae)?". Annales Zoologici Fennici. 36 (2): 93–102. JSTOR 23735739.
- ↑ Peigné, Stéphane; Goillot, Cyrielle; Germonpré, Mietje; Blondel, Cécile; Bignon, Olivier; Merceron, Gildas (2009-09-08). "Predormancy omnivory in European cave bears evidenced by a dental microwear analysis of Ursus spelaeus from Goyet, Belgium". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 106 (36): 15390–15393. doi:10.1073/pnas.0907373106. PMC 2741261. PMID 19706401.
- ↑ Anderson, Natali (2020-05-26). "European Cave Bears Had Pure Herbivorous Diet | Paleontology | Sci-News.com". Sci.News: Breaking Science News. Retrieved 2025-12-13.
- ↑ Pinto Llona, A. C., Andrews, P. & Etxeberrı´a, P. 2005: Taphonomy and Palaeoecology of Cave Bears from the Quaternary of Cantabrian Spain. Fondacio´n de Asturias/Du Pont Ibe´rica/The Natural History Museum, Grafinsa, Oviedo.
- ↑ Duñó-Iglesias, Paulo; Ramírez-Pedraza, Iván; Rivals, Florent; Mirea, Ionuț-Cornel; Faur, Luchiana-Maria; Constantin, Silviu; Robu, Marius (15 February 2024). "Palaeodiet during the pre-dormancy period of MIS 3 Romanian cave bears as inferred from dental microwear analysis". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 636 111988. Bibcode:2024PPP...63611988D. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2023.111988.