Ursus etruscus explained

Ursus etruscus (the Etruscan bear) is an 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]

Taxonomy

Ursus etruscus appears to have evolved from Ursus minimus and gave rise to the modern brown bear, Ursus arctos, and the extinct cave bear, Ursus spelaeus.^[2] The range of Ursus etruscus was mostly limited to continental Europe, with specimens also recovered in the Great Steppe region of Eurasia. Fossil evidence for Ursus etruscus 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.

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.^[5]
• Strmica, Croatia ~1.8–0.1 Ma.^[6]

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 . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America . 91 . 25 . 12336–12340 . 10.1073/pnas.91.25.12336 . 7991628 . 45432 . 1994PNAS...9112336H . 10 April 2021. free .

Notes and References

1. Gimranov . Dmitry . Lavrov . Alexander . Prat-Vericat . Maria . Madurell-Malapeira . Joan . Lopatin . Alexey V. . 2023-06-03 . Ursus etruscus from the late Early Pleistocene of the Taurida сave (Crimean Peninsula) . Historical Biology . en . 35 . 6 . 843–856 . 10.1080/08912963.2022.2067993 . 0891-2963.
2. de Torres Pérez-Hidalgo . Trinidad José . 1992 . The European descendants of Ursus etruscus (Mammalia, Carnivora, Ursidae) . Boletín del Instituto Geológico y minero de España . 103 . 4 . 632–642 .
3. 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 . . The Gates of Europe . 497 . 222–239 . 10.1016/j.quaint.2017.09.043 . 2018QuInt.497..222K . 1040-6182 . 18 January 2024 . Elsevier Science Direct.
4. Herrero . Stephen . Stephen Herrero . Aspects of evolution and adaptation in American black bears (Ursus americanus) and brown and grizzly bears (U. arctos) of North America . Bears: Their Biology and Management . 2 . 221–231 . Second International Conference on Bear Research and Management . Calgary, Alberta, Canada . 6-9 November 1970 . IUCN Publications New Series no. 23 . 1972 . International Association for Bear Research and Management . 3872586 . 10.2307/3872586 . 12 December 2020.
5. Web site: Mestas de Con . Cangas de Onis collection . collection list 49211 . Paleobiology Database .
6. Web site: Tiglian fauna . Strmica collection . collection list 40502 . Paleobiology Database . sediments containing Early Pleistocene or Tiglian fauna.