Steppe brown bear
Ursus arctos priscus Temporal range: Pleistocene PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓ | |
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Illustration of a steppe brown bear battling a cave lion | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Carnivora |
Family: | Ursidae |
Genus: | Ursus |
Species: | U. arctos |
Subspecies: | †U. a. priscus |
Trinomial name | |
†Ursus arctos priscus |
The steppe brown bear (Ursus arctos priscus) is a disputed extinct subspecies of brown bear that lived in Eurasia during either the Pleistocene or the early Holocene epochs, but its geological age is uncertain.[1] Fossils of the bear have been found in various caves in Slovakia, particularly those of Vazec, Vyvieranie, Lisková, Kupcovie Izbicka, and Okno.[2] It is argued that the subspecies should be rendered invalid, as its geological age is unclear and "its skull is identical to modern U. arctos."[3][1]
Description
Adult males in average would have weighed 700–800 kg (1,500–1,800 lb), with the largest individuals weighing up to 1,000 kg (2,200 lb).[4] It was more carnivorous than a modern brown bear, consuming 50 kg (110 lb) of meat per day.[4]
References
- ^ a b Villalba de Alvarado, M., Collado Giraldo, H., Arsuaga, J. L., Bello Rodrigo, J. R., Heteren, A. H., & Gómez‐Olivencia, A. (2021). Looking for the earliest evidence of Ursus arctos LINNAEUS, 1758 in the Iberian Peninsula: the Middle Pleistocene site of Postes cave. Boreas, 51(1), 159–184. https://doi.org/10.1111/bor.12537
- ^ Sabol, M. (2001), Fossil Brown Bears of Slovakia (Los osos pardos fósiles de Eslovaquia) (PDF), vol. 26, Bratislava: Cadernos Lab. Xeolóxico de Laxe Coruña, pp. 311–316, ISSN 0213-4497
- ^ Pacher, M. (2007). The type specimen of Ursus priscus Goldfuss, 1810 and the uncertain status of Late Pleistocene brown bears. Neues Jahrbuch f€ur Geologie und Pal€aontologie, Abhandlungen 245, 331–339.
- ^ a b Marciszak, A., Schouwenburg, C., Lipecki, G., Talamo, S., Shpansky, A., Malikov, D., & Gornig, W. (2019). Steppe brown bear Ursus arctos “priscus” from the Late Pleistocene of Europe. Quaternary International, 534, 158–170. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2019.02.042
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- †Atlas bear (U. a. crowtheri)
- †Steppe brown bear (U. a. priscus)
Eurasian brown bear (provisionally U. a. arctos) |
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Grizzly bear (provisionally U. a. horribilis) |
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- ^ Genetic tests demonstrate this population to have mixed brown bear and polar bear ancestry.
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