CAVE BEAR SKULL

Cave Bear Skull. Ursus spelaeus. Replica. 480mm/19.0 in. Ice age mammal. Ritual object of Pleistocene man of Europe. The cave bear is thought to be descended from the plio-pleistocene Etruscan bear (Ursus etruscus) through the Deninger's bear (Ursus deningeri) of the Pleistocene half a million years ago.

The cave bear had a very broad, domed skull with a steep forehead. Its stout body had long thighs, massive shins and in-turning feet, making it similar in skeletal structure to the grizzly bear. The average weight for males was 400 kilograms (880 pounds).[3] Certain experts suggest greater weights of 500-600 kilograms (1,102-1,323 pounds).[4] Males were larger than females. 90% of cave bear skeletons in museums are male, due to a misconception that the female skeletons were merely "dwarfs". Cave bears grew larger during glaciations and smaller during interglacials, probably to adjust heat loss rate.[5] Cave bears of the last ice age lacked the usual 2-3 premolars present in other bears; to compensate, the last molar is very elongated, with supplementary cusps.