A LARGE CAVE BEAR SKELETON

A LARGE CAVE BEAR SKELETON,
an Ice Age (Pleistocene) cave bear skeleton (Ursus spelaeus) from Romania or Austria, recently mounted into a walking pose, a good complete original skeleton of one cave bear with even bone patina, rather than one made up from of different specimens,
200 x 117cm

The cave bear (now extinct), either Ursus spelaeus or Ursus deningeri, is notable for its habit of inhabiting caves, where its remains are frequently preserved. It is best known from late Pleistocene cave deposits. Cave bear remains have been found in England, Belgium, Germany, Russia, Spain, Italy, and Greece, and the animal may have reached North Africa. It appears likely that most cave bears died in the severe glacial winters during dormancy; the remains include a large proportion of very young or very old bears and many specimens show unmistakable signs of illness or disease. The cave bear died out about 27,000 years ago. The cave bear's weight ranged from 400 to 1,000 kg. The head was very large and the jaws bore distinctive teeth, which suggests that the animal was largely vegetarian.
Sold for £13,000