A cave bear skeleton, Ursus spelaeus, Carpathian Mountains, Romania,
667†W
A cave bear skeleton,
Ursus spelaeus, Carpathian Mountains, Romania, Ice Age (50-100 thousand years ago), (the hip and shoulder-blades reconstructed), on a metal stand, 102.5in(260cm)high, 45.3in(115cm)deep.
Sold for £36,000 inc. premium

Footnotes

  • The Cave Bear (Ursus spelaeus) was a species of bear which lived in Europe during the Pleistocene period, and became extinct at the beginning of the Last Glacial Maximum which occurred about 27,500 years ago. Both the name "Cave Bear" and the scientific name "spelaeus" derive from the fact that fossils of this species were mostly found in caves, indicating that this species spent more time in caves than the Brown Bear, which only uses caves for hibernation.

    Cave bear skeletons were first described in 1774 by Johann Friederich Esper in his book "Newly Discovered Zoolites of Unknown Four Footed Animals", and were thought to have been the skeletons of dragons, unicorns, apes, canids or felids.

Category: Collectibles / Scientific Instruments

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