Cave Bear vertebra

Exceptionally preserved, Cave Bear fossils (Urusus spelaeus) from Romania. These large bears lived in the mountain caves from central Europe to Russia. Ursus spelaeus had a large body had long thighs, and massive shins making it similar in skeletal structure to the Brown Bear. Cave bears were comparable in size to the largest modern day bears. The average weight for males was approximately 1000 pounds.  

The cave bears became extinction date about 28,000 years ago which coincides with a period of significant climate change (Last Glacial Maximum). The drastic cooling in temperature resulted in a reduction or total loss of the vegetation that the cave bears ate. The cave bears starved to death in the caves which provided todays fossil record.

Note - The cave bear also co-existed with the large ancestral Eurasian Brown Bear (Ursus arctos) which may provided competition for food and habitat. Ursus arctos fossils are found in the same area, but are quite rare.

Name: Urusus spelaeus

Age: Late Pleistocene (28,000 - 130,000 years)

Location: Carpathian Mountains, Romania