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Fossil Cave Bear Jaws for Sale Including
Ursa Spelaeus from Romania
Updated 11/18/2004
Cave Bear Limb bones, $60 each. The top bone is
slightly flawed. See the upper right corner in the first picture.
The two top bones are the same type of bone, while the third is a different type
of bone. Any two bones for $110.
Wholesale and Retail sales Available.
100's of cave bear Canine, Molar, Premolar,
and Incisors available for wholesale and retail. Imaging not completed
with no plans to do this at this time.
100's of cave bear hand bones, claws, and other bones too.
Please inquire by email or phone.
Here are some pieces we have sold. I can provide
prices of typical specimens like these if you are shopping around.
 
Loose cave bear teeth available. Please inquire about
pricing. $10 - $60
- What were cave bears?
Cave bears (Ursus spelaeus) were massive bears that lived in
Europe and were the most powerful Eurasian carnivores of their day.
Although their size ranges could vary, the males often got as large as 900
pounds, which is about 3 times the size of the modern European Brown Bear.
They usually had disproportionately large heads and the females were
typically smaller than the males. As a result of this size difference, 90%
of all cave bears in museums today are males, because collectors typically
would keep the largest or 'best' specimen for their collections. Cave
bears can be found in cave deposits in Europe and are often numerous (one
cave yielded 30,000 specimens) because the bears would hibernate in the
caves and often died during the winter.
- When did they live?
They lived between 500,000 to 10,000 years ago, and went extinct at the end
of the Pleistocene Epoch.
- Where did they live?
They only lived in Europe, although they are related to the New World cave
bears found in Florida. They were part of the fauna that existed during
the last glaciation, along with woolly mammoths, woolly rhinoceros and
cave lions. Typically, cave bears grew larger during glaciations and
smaller during interglacials, probably to adjust from the rate of heat
loss.
- What did they eat?
There is a bit of controversy over what cave bears ate. Despite their
large size and membership in the Order Carnivora, they were, for the most
part, herbivorous (i.e. vegetarians), based upon isotopic studies on their
teeth. Other carnivores, such as the Giant Panda that are also
herbivorous.
- Did they interact with humans at all?
Yes. There is evidence from cave paintings and fossils found in
association with cave bears suggesting hominids (archaic Homo
sapiens and Neandertalensis ) at least used their
bones, although no evidence for butchering or tool marks have been found
on the bones themselves.
fossil, cave bear, sale, ursa spelaeus
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