Cave bear claw from Zoolithenhöhle, Bavaria

[Psittacosaurus]

In 1774, German paleontologist Rosenmüller entered a cave in Bavaria and, based on the bear remains found there, described a new prehistoric giant yet herbivorous bear, the cave bear Ursus spelaeus.

 

Now, 250 years later, I am thrilled to have obtained this cave bear claw from the same cave!

 

 

 

The taxa found in Zoolithenhohle were mostly Ursus spelaeus and wolverine, wolves, cave spotted hyaenas, and cave lions. 

The pattern of tooth eruption and wear indicates many young bears and a few mature ones, but there is a noticeable scarcity of very old adults. Juveniles comprise 62%-87% of the assemblage.

Males are always larger than females in Ursidae, and scientists realized that the male-to-female ratio in Zoolithenhohle was 2:8, that's insane. It is possible that female adults would bring up their kids in a group while the males are out gathering food. Since these bears were purely herbivorous, their diet would have mostly comprised of fruit and harder vegetables. Their small brain case size suggest that they weren't the brightest animals, which partly contributes to their predation by cave lions and cave hyenas (especially the cubs).