Everything about The Cave Bear totally explained
The
Cave Bear (
Ursus spelaeus) was a
species of
bear which lived in
Europe during the
Pleistocene and became extinct at the end of the last
ice age about 20,000 years ago.
Both the name
Cave Bear and the scientific name
spelaeus derive from the fact that fossils of this species were mostly found in caves, indicating that this species spent more time in caves than the
Brown Bear, which only uses caves for
hibernation. Consequently, in the course of time, whole layers of bones, almost entirely those of cave bears, were found in many caves.
Many caves in Europe have skeletons of cave bears on display, for example the
Heinrichshöhle in
Hemer or the
Dechenhöhle in
Iserlohn,
Germany. In
Romania, there's a cave called
Peştera Urşilor (Bears' Cave) where 140 cave bear skeletons were discovered in 1983.
(External Link
)
Range and habitat
The cave bear's range stretched across Europe; from
Spain to
Eurasia, from
Italy and
Greece to
Belgium, the
Netherlands and possibly
Great Britain, across a portion of
Germany through
Poland, then south into
Hungary,
Romania and parts of
Russia. There have been no traces of cave bears living in northern Britain,
Scandinavia or the
Baltic countries, which were covered in extensive
glaciers at the time. The largest numbers of cave bear remains have been found in
Austria,
Switzerland, southern Germany, northern Italy, northern Spain,
Croatia, Hungary and Romania. The huge number of bones found in south, central and east Europe has led some scientists to think that Europe may have once had literal herds of cave bears. Some however point out that though some caves have thousands of bones, they were accumulated over a period of 100,000 years or more, thus requiring only two deaths in a cave per year to account for the large numbers.
The cave bear inhabited low mountainous areas, especially in regions rich in
limestone caves. They seemed to avoid open plains, preferring forested or forest-edged terrains Cave bears found in different regions vary in age and evolutionary advancement, thus facilitating investigations into their development.
The three anterior
premolars were gradually reduced, then disappeared. For the largely vegetarian cave bear, the three premolars of it's ancestors became redundant. In a fourth of the skulls found in the
Conturines, the third premolar is still present, while the other more evolved specimens elsewhere lack it. The fourth premolar developed into a
molar. The last remaining premolar became conjugated with the true molars, enlarging the crown and granting it more cusps and cutting borders. This phenomenon known as molarization improved the
mastication capacities of the molars, facilitating the processing of tough vegetation. This allowed the cave bear to gain more energy for hibernation while eating less than its ancestors.
Description
Anatomy
The cave bear had a very broad, domed skull with a steep forehead. Its stout body had long thighs, massive shins and in-turning feet, making it similar in skeletal structure to the
grizzly bear. The average weight for males was 400
kilograms (880
pounds). Certain experts suggest greater weights of 500-600 kilograms (1,102-1,323 pounds). Males were larger than females. 90% of cave bear skeletons in museums are male, due to a misconception that the female skeletons were merely "dwarfs". Cave bears grew larger during glaciations and smaller during interglacials, probably to adjust heat loss rate. Cave bears of the last
ice age lacked the usual 2-3 premolars present in other bears; to compensate, the last molar is very elongated, with supplementary cusps.
Dietary habits
The morphological features of their chewing apparatus suggest both, herbivorous behaviour, and important adaptations to a tough vegetarian diet. Results obtained on the stable isotopic yield of cave bear bones are interpreted as indicators of a largely vegetarian diet. The bones of central and western European cave bears matched those of vegetarians in having low levels of
nitrogen-15, which is accumulated by meat eaters. However, several cave bear sites in the
Peştera cu Oase in the southwestern tip of the
Carpathian mountains have shown that the cave bears of that region may have been largely carnivorous, due to higher levels of nitrogen-15 in their bones. This behavior is also evident from very large cave bear tooth marks on young cave bear skulls in
Yarimburgaz Cave in western
Turkey. It is thoght that cannibalistic scavenging constituted a minor part of an otherwise chiefly vegetarian diet, thus leaving no identifiable isotopic signature in the bones of central and western European specimens. Dental Microwear Analyses indicates that the cave bear may have fed on a greater quantity of bone than it's contemporary, the smaller
Eurasian Brown Bear.
Mortality
Death during hibernation was a common end for cave bears, mainly befalling specimens that failed ecologically during the summer season through inexperience, sickness or old age. Some cave bear bones show signs of numerous different ailments, including fusion of the spine,
bone tumours, cavities, tooth resorption,
necrosis (particularly in younger specimens),
nematodes,
osteomyelitis,
periostitis,
rickets and kidney stones Cave bear
longevity is unknown, though it has been estimated that they seldom exceeded 20 years of age. Paleontologists doubt adult cave bears had any natural predators, save for pack hunting
wolves and
cave hyenas which would probably have attacked sick or infirm specimens
Cave bear worship
Collections of bear bones at several widely dispersed sites suggest that
Neanderthals may have
worshipped cave bears, especially at
Drachenlock, in Switzerland, where a stone chest was discovered with a number of bear skulls stacked upon it. Neandertals, who also inhabited the entrance of the cave, are believed to have built it. A massive stone slab covered the top of the structure. At the cave entrance, seven bear skulls were arranged with their muzzles facing the cave entrance, while still deeper in the cave, a further six bear skulls were lodged in niches along the wall. Next to these remains were bundles of limb bones belonging to different bears. Consequently, it was at this site that the supposed symbol of the "Cult of the Cave Bear" was found. This consisted of the skull of a three-year-old bear pierced in the cheek by the leg-bone of younger bear. The arrangement of these bones of different bears are not believed to have happened by chance.
A similar phenomenon was encountered in
Regourdou, southern France. A rectangular pit contained the remains of at least twenty bears, covered by a massive stone slab. The remains of a Neandertal lay nearby in another stone pit, with various objects, including a bear humerus, a scraper, a core, and some flakes, which were interpreted as grave offerings.
The unusual finding in a deep chamber of
Basua Cave in
Savona, Italy, is thought to be related to cave bear worship, as there's a vaguely zoomorphic
stalagmite surrounded by clay pellets. It was apparently used by Neandertals for a ceremony, the fact that bear bones lay scattered on the floor further suggested that this was likely to have had some sort of ritual purpose.
Cause of extinction
The cave bear probably died out 10,000 years ago, though the reason is still disputed. Some experts proposed that their large size and lack of natural predators caused them to
degenerate, while others claim that habitat loss due to climate change was responsible. Certain experts dispute this claim, as the cave bears had survived multiple times of climate change. Overhunting by
humans has been largely dismissed because human populations at the time were too small to pose a serious threat to the cave bear's survival, though there's proof that the two species may have competed for living space in caves. One theory proposed by late paleontologist
Bjorn Kurten states that the cave bear populations were fragmented and under stress even before the advent of the glaciers
Further Information
Get more info on 'Cave Bear'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://cave_bear.totallyexplained.com">Cave bear Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
