Cave Bear Jaw

Mythical prehistoric animal, the cave bear (Ursus Spelaeus) is the largest animal that made the underground world its habitat. It is a mammal with, like all ursids, five fingers on each leg, powerful canines and crushing molars. Appeared about 250,000 years ago, Ursus spelaeus disappeared, like the other representatives of Quaternary megafauna, a little more than 10,000 years before our era. This massive bear reached 3.5 meters in height for a weight of around 450Kg, nearly three times the average weight of a brown bear. The scientific study of the dentition of Ursus spelaeus tells us that the majority of its diet was made up of plants. Its large lower jaws left plenty of room for the masticatory muscles that operated the large crushing molars. The caves were not only used for hibernation but were a place of usual residence. He was particularly fond of low and medium altitude mountainous areas and he left many remains in paleontological and archaeological sites. This copy, coming from a collection, has a beautiful "old ivory" patina, a shiny bone surface, well mineralized, solid in appearance and not spongy.