The Gamssulzen cave bear, Ursus ingressus, was an extinct member of the cave bear species complex that lived in Central Europe during the Late Pleistocene. It is named after the Gamssulzen Cave in Austria, where its holotype was found. It was a large bear with massive, bulky limbs, larger than Ursus spelaeus, whose males are estimated to have averaged 350 to 600 kilograms. About 50,000 years ago it moved into the Alps and replaced two earlier populations of Ursus spelaeus, and its remains have been found from the Swabian Jura in Germany to the Ural Mountains in Russia. It is mostly found at medium and high elevations and was probably adapted to cold, arid continental climates. Studies disagree on whether it ate mainly plants or was an omnivore, and it died out about 30,000 years ago.
Facts
Classification
Living or Extinct Conservation Status Connections
Child Taxon Of
Ursus, Taxa Source Ursus ingressus (Wikipedia)
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Source Ursus ingressus (Wikipedia)Lead, where it livesQuote, Lead, where it lives
that lived in Central Europe during the Late Pleistocene
Sources
1. Ursus ingressus (Wikipedia)
Lead
Ursus ingressus is an extinct species of the cave bear species complex
Behaviour
Some studies have suggested the Gamssulzen Cave bear to have been herbivorous, living off vegetation with little contribution of grass.
Behaviour, diet
Other studies proposed Ursus ingressus to have been an omnivore
Lead, where it lives
that lived in Central Europe during the Late Pleistocene
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