Ursus deningeri

Ursus deningeri (Deninger's bear) is an extinct species of bear, endemic to Eurasia during the Pleistocene for approximately 1.7 million years, from 1.8 to 0.1 million years ago.^{[citation needed]} The range of this bear has been found to encompass both Europe and Asia, demonstrating the ability of the species to adapt to many Pleistocene environments.^{[citation needed]}

Ursus deningeri Temporal range: Early Pleistocene–Late Pleistocene PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Skeleton of Ursus deningeri at Musée de Préhistoire de Tautavel [fr]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Suborder:	Caniformia
Family:	Ursidae
Subfamily:	Ursinae
Genus:	Ursus
Species:	†U. deningeri
Binomial name
†Ursus deningeri von Reichenau, 1904 [1][2]

U. deningeri is the ancestor of the later cave bear (Ursus spelaeus)

Morphology

Skull from Atapuerca

Skull of Ursus deningeri

Ursus deningeri has a combination of primitive and derived characters that distinguishes it from all other Pleistocene bears. Its mandible is slender like that of living brown bears and Ursus etruscus. It also has derived characters of cave bears (Ursus spelaeus) and is considered to be the descendant of Ursus savini and very close to the common ancestor of brown bears.^[3]

Fossil distribution

Sites and specimen ages:

• Nalaikha, Mongolia (~1.8 Mya to 800,000 years ago)
• West Runton Freshwater Bed, Cromer Forest Bed Formation, Norfolk, England (~800,000–100,000 years ago)
• Cueva del Agua, Granada, Spain (~800,000–100,000 years ago)
• Venosa bed excavations 1974–1976, Basilicata, Italy (~800,000–100,000 years ago)
• Emirkaya-2, Central Anatolia, Turkey (~800,000–100,000 years ago)
• Sima de los Huesos, Atapuerca, Spain (>300,000 years ago)^[4]
• Darband Cave, Alborz, Caspian, Iran (~300,000–200,000 years ago)
• Stránská skála (Ursus Cave), Brno, Moravia, Czech Republic (excavations 1943–1944 ~790,000–600,000 years ago)^[5][6]
• Zhoukoudian, North China (early Middle Pleistocene)^[7]

A distinct morphotype classifiable under U. deningeri sensu lato has been found in Kents Cavern, England, dating back to latest MIS 12 or earliest MIS 11.^[8] A controversial specimen from the Cheonyeo Cave (Middle Pleistocene) of South Korea, formerly referred to as U. spelaeus and subsequently to U. deningeri, may instead represent a brown bear.^[7]

Genetics

In 2013, a German team reconstructed the mitochondrial genome of an Ursus deningeri more than 300,000 years old, proving that authentic ancient DNA can be preserved for hundreds of thousand years outside of permafrost.^[9]