Ursus etruscus
| Ursus etruscus Temporal range:
| |
|---|---|
| |
| Fossils | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Family: | Ursidae |
| Genus: | Ursus |
| Species: | †U. etruscus
|
| Binomial name | |
| †Ursus etruscus Cuvier, 1823
| |
Ursus etruscus (the Etruscan bear) is an
extinct species of bear, endemic to Europe, Asia and North Africa during the Pliocene through Pleistocene
, living from ~5.3 million to 100,000 years ago.
Taxonomy
Ursus etruscus appears to have evolved from .
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.[3]
Morphology
Not unlike the brown bears of Europe in size, it had a full complement of premolars, a trait carried from the genus Ursavus.
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.[4]
- Strmica, Croatia ~1.8–0.1 Ma.[5]
References
- ^ 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.
- ISSN 1040-6182. Retrieved 18 January 2024 – via Elsevier Science Direct.
- ^
JSTOR 3872586. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
- ^ "Mestas de Con". Paleobiology Database. Cangas de Onis collection. collection list 49211.
- ^ "Tiglian fauna". Paleobiology Database. Strmica collection. collection list 40502. sediments containing Early Pleistocene or Tiglian fauna.
Further reading
- Hanni, Catherine; Laudet, Vincent; Stehelin, Dominique; Taberleto, Pierre (December 1994). "Tracking the origins of the cave bear (Ursus spelaeus) by mitochondrial DNA sequencing" (PDF). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 91 (25): 12336–12340. PMID 7991628. Retrieved 10 April 2021.