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Abstract
This comprehensive study examines fossil remains from Niedźwiedzia Cave in the Eastern Sudetes, offering detailed insights into the palaeobiology and adversities encountered by the Pleistocene cave bear Ursus spelaeus ingressus. Emphasising habitual cave use for hibernation and a primarily herbivorous diet, the findings attribute mortality to resource scarcity during hibernation and habitat fragmentation amid climate shifts. Taphonomic analysis indicates that the cave was extensively used by successive generations of bears, virtually unexposed to the impact of predators. The study also reveals that alkaline conditions developed in the cave during the post-depositional taphonomic processes. Mortality patterns, notably among juveniles, imply dwindling resources, indicative of environmental instability. Skeletal examination reveals a high incidence of forelimb fractures, indicating risks during activities like digging or confrontations. Palaeopathological evidence unveils vulnerabilities to tuberculosis, abscesses, rickets, and injuries, elucidating mobility challenges. The cave’s silts exhibit a high zinc concentration, potentially derived from successive bear generations consuming zinc-rich plants. This study illuminates the lives of late cave bears, elucidating unique environmental hurdles faced near their species’ end.
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Details
1 University of Wrocław, Department of Palaeozoology, Wrocław, Poland (GRID:grid.8505.8) (ISNI:0000 0001 1010 5103)
2 University of Wrocław, Department of Bioinformatics and Genomics, Wrocław, Poland (GRID:grid.8505.8) (ISNI:0000 0001 1010 5103)
3 Szczecin University, Institute of Marine and Environmental Sciences, Szczecin, Poland (GRID:grid.79757.3b) (ISNI:0000 0000 8780 7659)
4 University of Florence, Department of Earth Sciences, Florence, Italy (GRID:grid.8404.8) (ISNI:0000 0004 1757 2304)
5 University of Warsaw, Faculty of Biology, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, Warsaw, Poland (GRID:grid.12847.38) (ISNI:0000 0004 1937 1290)
6 Polish Academy of Sciences, Institute of Geological Sciences, Warsaw, Poland (GRID:grid.413454.3) (ISNI:0000 0001 1958 0162)
7 University of Szczecin, Institute of Marine and Environmental Sciences, Szczecin, Poland (GRID:grid.79757.3b) (ISNI:0000 0000 8780 7659)
8 University of Wrocław, Department of Evolutionary Biology and Conservation of Vertebrates, Wrocław, Poland (GRID:grid.8505.8) (ISNI:0000 0001 1010 5103)
9 Silesian University of Technology, Institute of Physics – Centre for Science and Education, Gliwice, Poland (GRID:grid.6979.1) (ISNI:0000 0001 2335 3149)
10 Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Division of Anthropology, Wrocław, Poland (GRID:grid.411200.6) (ISNI:0000 0001 0694 6014)
11 University of Wrocław, Institute of Geological Sciences, Wrocław, Poland (GRID:grid.8505.8) (ISNI:0000 0001 1010 5103)
12 Aarhus University, Center for Ecological Dynamics in a Novel Biosphere (ECONOVO), Department of Biology, Aarhus C, Denmark (GRID:grid.7048.b) (ISNI:0000 0001 1956 2722); Aarhus University, Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies, Højbjerg, Denmark (GRID:grid.7048.b) (ISNI:0000 0001 1956 2722); Polish Academy of Sciences, Mammal Research Institute, Białowieża, Poland (GRID:grid.413454.3) (ISNI:0000 0001 1958 0162)
13 University of Wrocław, Department of Palaeozoology, Wrocław, Poland (GRID:grid.8505.8) (ISNI:0000 0001 1010 5103); National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, National Museum of Natural History, Kyiv, Ukraine (GRID:grid.418751.e) (ISNI:0000 0004 0385 8977)
14 National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, National Museum of Natural History, Kyiv, Ukraine (GRID:grid.418751.e) (ISNI:0000 0004 0385 8977); John Von Neumann University, Department of Agricultural Sciences, Kecskemét, Hungary (GRID:grid.497381.0)