Extinct species of carnivore
The Etruscan bear (Ursus etruscus extinct species of bear, endemic to Europe , Asia and North Africa during the Early Pleistocene , living from approximately 2.2 million to around 1.4-1.2 million years ago.[ 1]
Skull
Taxonomy
The Etruscan bear appears to have evolved from Ursus minimus Ursus arctos Ursus spelaeus [ 2] continental Europe , with specimens also recovered in the Great Steppe region of Eurasia . Fossil evidence for the Etruscan bear was recovered in Palestine , Greece ,[ 3] Croatia , and Tuscany, Italy .
Some scientists have proposed that the early, small variety of U. etruscus of the middle Villafranchian era survives in the form of the modern Asian black bear .[ 4]
Morphology
Not unlike the brown bears of Europe in size, it had a full complement of premolars , a trait carried from the genus Ursavus
Ecology
Ursus etruscus , like modern brown bears, is suggested to have been omnivorous,[ 5] [ 6]
Fossil distribution
Sites and specimen ages:
Vassiloudi, Macedonia Greece ~5.3–1.8 Ma.
Obigarm, Tajikistan ~5.3–1.8 Ma.
Ahl al Oughlam, Morocco ~3.6–1.8 Ma.
Pardines, Auvergne, France ~2.5–1.8 Ma.
Dmanisi, Georgia ~1.8–0.8 Ma.
Mestas de Con, Cangas de Onis, Asturias, Spain ~1.8–0.1 Ma.[ 7]
Strmica, Croatia ~1.8–0.1 Ma.[ 8]
References
^ Gimranov, Dmitry; Lavrov, Alexander; Prat-Vericat, Maria; Madurell-Malapeira, Joan; Lopatin, Alexey V. (3 June 2023). "Ursus etruscus from the late Early Pleistocene of the Taurida сave (Crimean Peninsula)" . Historical Biology . 35 (6): 843–856. Bibcode :2023HBio...35..843G . doi :10.1080/08912963.2022.2067993 . ISSN 0891-2963 . ^ de Torres Pérez-Hidalgo, Trinidad José (1992). "The European descendants of Ursus etruscus C. Cuvier (Mammalia, Carnivora, Ursidae)" . Boletín del Instituto Geológico y minero de España . 103 (4): 632–642. ^ Koufos, George D.; Konidaris, George E.; Harvati, Katerina (20 December 2018). "Revisiting Ursus etruscus (Carnivora, Mammalia) from the Early Pleistocene of Greece with description of new material" . Quaternary International 497 : 222–239. Bibcode :2018QuInt.497..222K . doi :10.1016/j.quaint.2017.09.043 . ISSN 1040-6182 . Retrieved 18 January 2024 – via Elsevier Science Direct. ^ Herrero, Stephen (6–9 November 1970). "Aspects of evolution and adaptation in American black bears (Ursus americanus Pallas ) and brown and grizzly bears (U. arctos Linné ) of North America" (PDF) . Bears: Their Biology and Management . Second International Conference on Bear Research and Management. IUCN Publications New Series no. 23. Vol. 2. Calgary, Alberta, Canada: International Association for Bear Research and Management (published 1972). pp. 221–231. doi :10.2307/3872586 . JSTOR 3872586 . Retrieved 12 December 2020 .^ Mateos, Ana; Hölzchen, Ericson; Rodríguez, Jesús (January 2024). "Sabretooths, giant hyenas, and hominins: Shifts in the niche of Early Pleistocene scavengers in Iberia at the Epivillafranchian-Galerian transition" . Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology . 634 : 111926. Bibcode :2024PPP...63411926M . doi :10.1016/j.palaeo.2023.111926 . ^ Medin, Tsegai; Martínez-Navarro, Bienvenido; Rivals, Florent; Madurell-Malapeira, Joan; Ros-Montoya, Sergio; Espigares, María-Patrocinio; Figueirido, Borja; Rook, Lorenzo; Palmqvist, Paul (February 2017). "Late Villafranchian Ursus etruscus and other large carnivorans from the Orce sites (Guadix-Baza basin, Andalusia, southern Spain): Taxonomy, biochronology, paleobiology, and ecogeographical context" . Quaternary International . 431 : 20–41. Bibcode :2017QuInt.431...20M . doi :10.1016/j.quaint.2015.10.053 . ^
"Mestas de Con" . Paleobiology Database . Cangas de Onis collection. collection list 49211. Archived from the original on 16 October 2012.
^
"Tiglian fauna" . Paleobiology Database . Strmica collection. collection list 40502. Archived from the original on 16 October 2012.
Further reading
