''Ursus ingressus'' is an extinct species of the

cave bear The cave bear (''Ursus spelaeus'') is a prehistoric species of bear that lived in Europe and Asia during the Pleistocene and became extinct about 24,000 years ago during the Last Glacial Maximum. Both the word ''cave'' and the scientific name '' ...

species complex that lived in

Central Europe Central Europe is a geographical region of Europe between Eastern Europe, Eastern, Southern Europe, Southern, Western Europe, Western and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Central Europe is known for its cultural diversity; however, countries in ...

during the Late

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...

. It is named after the Gamssulzen Cave in

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, where the

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

of this species was found.Gernot Rabeder (2004): Die Höhlenbären der Sulzfluh-Höhlen, Vorarlberger Naturschau 15, Seite 103–114

Description

''Ursus ingressus'' was a large cave bear with massive, bulky limbs. It was larger than '' Ursus spelaeus'', which has been estimated to weigh an average of (male specimen).

Behaviour

Some studies have suggested the Gamssulzen Cave bear to have been

herbivorous A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically evolved to feed on plants, especially upon vascular tissues such as foliage, fruits or seeds, as the main component of its diet. These more broadly also encompass animals that eat n ...

, living off vegetation with little contribution of grass. Other studies proposed ''Ursus ingressus'' to have been an

omnivore An omnivore () is an animal that regularly consumes significant quantities of both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and animal matter, omnivores digest carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber, and metabolize t ...

, with participation of terrestrial and more likely aquatic animal protein, that exceeds the participation of animal protein in the diet of the modern

brown bear The brown bear (''Ursus arctos'') is a large bear native to Eurasia and North America. Of the land carnivorans, it is rivaled in size only by its closest relative, the polar bear, which is much less variable in size and slightly bigger on av ...

''(Ursus arctos)''. However it has also been suggested, that the feeding habits of cave bears can vary heavily depending on the environment. Skulls with bite damage from Zoolithen Cave in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

suggest that ''Ursus ingressus'' came into conflicts with other big

carnivore A carnivore , or meat-eater (Latin, ''caro'', genitive ''carnis'', meaning meat or "flesh" and ''vorare'' meaning "to devour"), is an animal or plant Plants are the eukaryotes that form the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae; they ar ...

s of the Late Pleistocene of Europe like the cave lion (''Panthera spelaea'') or the cave hyena (''Crocuta crocuta spelaea'').

Distribution and habitat

It has been suggested that the Gamssulzen Cave bear dominated ''Ursus spelaeus'' in Central and Eastern Europe, while being out-competed by this species in Western Europe. Around 50,000 years ago, the Gamssulzen Cave bear migrated into the

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

and replaced two former populations of ''Ursus spelaeus'': ''Ursus spelaeus eremus'' and ''Ursus spelaeus ladinicus''. ''Ursus ingressus'' has been found as far east as the

Ural Mountains The Ural Mountains ( ),; , ; , or simply the Urals, are a mountain range in Eurasia that runs north–south mostly through Russia, from the coast of the Arctic Ocean to the river Ural (river), Ural and northwestern Kazakhstan.

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and as far west as the

Swabian Jura The Swabian Jura ( , more rarely ), sometimes also named Swabian Alps in English, is a mountain range in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, extending from southwest to northeast and in width. It is named after the region of Swabia. It is part of th ...

in Germany. It has mostly been found in medium and high elevated regions and probably was adapted to continental environments with cold and arid climate.Baca, Mateusz, Stankovic, Anna, Stefaniak, Krzysztof, Marciszak, Adrian, Hofreiter, Michael, Nadachowski, Adam, Węgleński, Piotr, and Mackiewicz, Paweł. 2012. Genetic analysis of cave bear specimens from Niedźwiedzia Cave, Sudetes, Poland. ''Palaeontologia Electronica'' Vol. 15, Issue 2;21A,16p

Evolution and extinction

''Ursus ingressus'' and ''Ursus spelaeus'' evolved from ''

Ursus deningeri ''Ursus deningeri'' (Deninger's bear) is an extinct species of bear, endemic to Eurasia during the Pleistocene for approximately 1.7 million years, from . The range of this bear has been found to encompass both Europe and Asia, demonstrating the ...

'' and probably diverged between 173,000 and 414,000, or possibly as much as 600,000 years ago. Some studies still question whether ''U. ingressus'' and ''U. spelaeus'' are separate species, instead treating them as

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

of a single species. The Gamssulzen Cave bear survived ''U. spelaeus'' for about 1000 to 2000 years, locally replacing this species, but also became extinct about 30,000 years ago, just prior to the

Last Glacial Maximum The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), also referred to as the Last Glacial Coldest Period, was the most recent time during the Last Glacial Period where ice sheets were at their greatest extent between 26,000 and 20,000 years ago. Ice sheets covered m ...

. The reasons for their extinction are still being discussed, with climate change and human hunting suggested as possible reasons.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q30693320 Fossil taxa described in 2004 Pleistocene bears Pleistocene carnivorans Pleistocene mammals of Europe Ursus (mammal) Central Europe