The ban of the cave bear

Human hunting and renewed global cooling led to extinction of giant bears in Europe, say palaeobiologists

Date:  April 5, 2018

Source:  Universitaet Tübingen

At 3.5 meters long and with a shoulder height of 1.7 meters, the cave bear was one of the giants of the Ice Age. Yet few appear to have survived until the last glacial maximum 24,000 to 19,000 years ago. Researchers have conducted analyses to find out what likely caused the extinction of these large herbivores. It is believed that the renewed cooling of the climate and hunting by humans -- added to the bears purely vegetarian diet -- increased the pressure on this megafauna species.

Continued  

Ancient DNA reveals evolution of giant bears in the Americas

Date: April 20, 2016

Source: University of Adelaide

The work of University of Adelaide researchers is shedding new light on the evolution of what are believed to be the largest bears that ever walked the Earth.

Dr Kieren Mitchell, from the University's Australian Centre for Ancient DNA, School of Biological Sciences, has a new paper just published in Biology Letters.

He writes: "During the Pleistocene (2.5 million years ago -- 11 thousand years ago) giant bears weighing over 1,000kg roamed both North and South America. These giants belonged to a now practically extinct subfamily of bears -- Tremarctinae -- which is today only represented by the small, herbivorous Andean spectacled bear (Tremarctos ornatus).

"The giant North American bears (Arctodus) and South American bears (Arctotherium) have long been believed to be each others' closest relative. However, by comparing ancient DNA data obtained from representatives of the two extinct genera and comparing them with the living species, we were able to show that Arctotherium is most closely related to Tremarctos and not Arctodus.

Continued ...