European cave bear

[oldgreengrolar]

The giant cave bear of Europe ( Ursus spelaeus ) is the grizzly's closest relative with the exception of the polar bear. This massive bear outweighed even today's Kodiak bear. Unlike the grizzly which prefers to dig his own winter den, the cave bears often hibernated in natural caves when such could be found. Sometimes cave lions would enter these caves in search of bear cubs ( an easy kill ). There were sometimes terrible fights deep within those dark caves between bear and lions.

An even bigger threat to these huge bears were the Neanderthal people. It is believed by some authorities that the cave men both hunted and worshipped the great bears. This belief is evidenced by cave paintings and bountiful cave bear skulls collected by the cave men.

The cave bear shared his environment with the grizzly. Each can be recognized by the shape of the skull. The cave bear has a broader skull with a distinctive stop or forehead described by some as being more "Teddy Bear-Like." The grizzly has a longer narrower skull with a sloping forehead. The famous giant European cave bear ( Ursus speleaus speleaus is now known to have been a pure vegetarian while the grizzly was and is an omnivore. During the Pleistocene, the grizzly was from 80% to 90% carnivorous.



Credited to Brobear.

[oldgreengrolar]

www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3759796/Can-vegan-make-EXTINCT-Picky-prehistoric-cave-bear-s-diet-caused-die-out.html

Weighing more than half a ton and equipped with huge teeth capable of crushing bones, the prehistoric cave bear would seem equipped to be a top Ice Age predator.
But new research suggests these enormous bears may actually have been absurdly picky eaters that survived on a largely vegan diet.
The findings provide new clues for what led these beasts to die out around 25,000 years ago during the last glacial period.

While most modern bears are omnivorous, consuming everything from tiny berries to fish and deer, analysis of bones from extinct cave bears has revealed that they stuck to a strictly plant-based diet.
Using cave bear bones found at the Goyet Cave in Belgium, a team of international researchers managed to reconstruct the bears' diet.
Specifically, they looked at the isotope composition of collagen in the bones.
Collagen - a protein that makes up the scaffolding of most tissues including bones, teeth, tendons and skin - is made up of amino acids that vary according to an animal's diet.
The analysis eventually revealed cave bears lived on subsisted on a rigidly vegan diet.
Even bear cubs that had been suckling milk showed a vegan-like collagen make-up due to their mother's dietary regime.

'Similar to today's giant panda, the cave bears were therefore extremely inflexible in regard to their food,' said lead researcher Professor Hervé Bocherens, from the Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment at the University of Tübingen in Germany.
'We assume that this unbalanced diet, in combination with the reduced supply of plants during the last ice age, ultimately led to the cave bear's extinction.'

Cave bears first appeared in Europe around 400,000 years ago. Measuring up to 11 feet (3.5m) long and 5.5 feet tall at the shoulder (1.7m) they were formidable animals.
They earned their name as many remains of these beasts have been found in caves.
However, they are only thought to have hibernated in caverns and spent most of their time roaming searching for food.
'We believe that the reliance on a purely vegan diet was a crucial reason for the cave bear's extinction,' Professor Bocherens added, whose work is published in the Journal of Quaternary Science.
The team is now hoping to study cave bear bones from other areas in order to confirm their hypothesis.
'We now intend to examine additional cave bear bones from various European locations with this new method, as well as conducting controlled feeding experiments with modern bears, in order to further solidify our proposition,' Professor Bocherens explained.


Read more: www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3759796/Can-vegan-make-EXTINCT-Picky-prehistoric-cave-bear-s-diet-caused-die-out.html#ixzz4ITZ06SxM
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[oldgreengrolar]

The cave bear is Brobears, favourite bear. I hope he posts here more.