www.researchgate.net/publication/233639688_The_type_specimen_of_Ursus_priscus_GOLDFUSS_1818_and_the_uncertain_status_of_Late_Pleistocene_brown_bears From the beginning of the first scientific explorations of caves, the Zoolithenhöhle in Franconia, Germany, was famous for its rich fossil content. In addition to the numerous remains of cave bears and other animals, a skull of a clearly distinct kind of bear was found, originally called Ursus priscus GOLDFUSS, 1818. Three years later, the term Ursus fossilis was introduced along with a published description of the skull, which led to confusion about the adequate designation of the new species. U. priscus was regarded as a contemporary of the cave bear, i.e. Late Pleistocene in age, but the geological age of the find is still unclear even today, and from the overall state of preservation it could be even of Holocene age. Unfortunately, it was not possible to get the permission for dating the skull directly. In this paper a revised study of the skull demonstrates that it is identical to modern U. arctos. The specimen probably represents a female individual. On the basis of this evidence, U. priscus, U. fossilis and its synonyms are invalid terms. The nature of Late Pleistocene brown bears is still not well known.
... Brown bears seem to have originated in Asia where they have been recorded since the early Middle Pleistocene in sites such as Zhoukoudian, in particular in the Upper Cave and Loc.1 cave, where the last one was dated to 620 ka BP (Kurt en 1968;Zhou et al. 2000;Jiangzuo et al. 2018). Middle and Late Pleistocene brown bears have been named Ursus prearctos BOULE, 1906, Ursus arctos kamiensis VERESTCHAGIN, 1959, Ursus priscus skull is identical to modern U. arctos (Pacher 2007). Thus, U. priscus, U. fossilis and its synonyms should be considered invalid terms (Pacher 2007). ...
... Middle and Late Pleistocene brown bears have been named Ursus prearctos BOULE, 1906, Ursus arctos kamiensis VERESTCHAGIN, 1959, Ursus priscus skull is identical to modern U. arctos (Pacher 2007). Thus, U. priscus, U. fossilis and its synonyms should be considered invalid terms (Pacher 2007). ...
... Many studies have pointed out the decrease in size of the brown bear after the Pleistocene (Couturier 1948;Erdbrink 1953;Kurt en 1959;Bonifay 1971;Ballesio 1983;Torres 1988; Baryshnikov & Boeskorov 2004;Pacher 2007;Rosendahl & D€ oppes 2011). Marciszak et al. (2015) shows a progressive decrease in skull size from the Middle Pleistocene to recent brown bears and note the particularity of the Late Pleistocene skulls from the Iberian Peninsula, which are smaller than those from other areas of Europe during the same period. ...
... U. arctos is characterized by great size variation through its whole time span. Most authors reported the decreasing size process in the brown bear lineage evolution in the end of the Late Pleistocene and beginning of the Holocene and simultaneously accented particularly large size of fossil brown bears (Ball, 1850;Adams, 1880Adams, , 1883Reynolds, 1906;Couturier, 1948;Erdbrink, 1953;Thenius, 1956;Kurt en, 1959Kurt en, , 1964Kurt en, , 1965Kurt en, , 1968bBonifay, 1971;Kurt en, 1977Kurt en, , 1978Pohar, 1981;Ballesio, 1983;Torres P erez Hidalgo, 1988aSabol, 2001a;Baryshnikov and Boeskorov, 2004;Baryshnikov, 2007;Pacher, 2007;Rosendahl and D€ oppes, 2011). Here we carried out extensive comparison of large series of geographically and stratigraphically diverse samples of brown bears from Eurasia in the context of size changes. ...
... The number of localities and individuals are larger in postglacial and Holocene sites, in which brown bear bones constituted up to 2% of skeleton remains of hunted animals (see Krakhmalnaya, 1999 and reference therein), e.g. in Lesnik Cave on Ai-Petri plateau (Crimea), dated to 10,155 ± 40 BP. In Holocene U. arctos is found across most of Europe (Baryshnikov, 2007;Pacher, 2007) and until historical times its geographical range covered almost the whole Ukraine territory (Krakhmalnaya, 1999). However, recently it is restricted only to Carpathian Mountains in the west Ukraine, while European large, stabile populations can be found in central and eastern part of the continent (Krakhmalnaya, 1999). ...
... Nevertheless, according to Rabeder et al. (2009), brown bear or at least forms very close to U. arctos were already present in Europe at the end of the Early Pleistocene. The same was also pointed out by Pacher (2007). This view is in agreement with divergence time, 1.2e1.7 million years ago, between speleolid and arctoid lineage based on palaeontological (Kurt en, 1968a(Kurt en, ,b, 1977Rabeder et al., 2009) and molecular data (Loreille et al., 2001;Bon et al., 2008), although some calculations showed an earlier split about 2.8 million years ago (Krause et al., 2008). ...
.. The history of the brown bear was similar. With its opportunistic behaviour, extremely broad diet, ability to adapt to various habitats ranging from semi-deserts to Arctic tundra, including arid and mountain areas, it could survive and adapt to the new environmental conditions (Baryshnikov 2007;Pacher 2007;Marciszak et al. 2017). Despite their scarcity, the brown bear remains from lowland Silesian open sites document the occurrence of a very particular kind of bear. ...
... Since MIS 5 moderately large individuals with progressive morphology already occurred, large lions hold some primitive features similar to Węgry specimen still existed during MIS 6-5 (Altuna 1981;Argant 1991;Baryshnikov and Tsoukala 2010;Sotnikova and Foronova 2012;Marciszak et al. 2014). Pleistocene lions with progressive morphology closer to first appeared in western Asia, eastern and south-east Europe (Thenius 1956;Musil 1964;Pacher 2007;Rabeder and Frischauf 2016;Marciszak et al. 2016Marciszak et al. , 2017. It is very characteristic that this form is always strangely difficult to find not only in open sites but also in caves. ...
... It is very characteristic that this form is always strangely difficult to find not only in open sites but also in caves. Because it is uncommon, metric and morphological studies of this species suffer from paucity of fossil material (Baryshnikov 2007;Pacher 2007). Compared to other carnivores, the steppe brown bear was never common in one locality and tended to be a solitary scavenger (rather than hunter), which required large expanses of open grassland (Sabol 2001). ...
... Jest to jeden z nielicznych dużych drapieżników, który przetrwał wielkie wymieranie na przełomie plejstocenu i holocenu. Gatunek ten charakteryzuje wybitna zdolność przystosowawcza do warunków środowiska oraz różnorakiego pokarmu (Pacher, 2007). Jednocześnie rozmiary gwarantują względne bezpieczeństwo oraz dominującą pozycję we współczesnej faunie europejskich ssaków drapieżnych. ...
... Pozostałe gatunki penetrowały wnętrze jaskini raczej przypadkowo a charakter akumulacji ich szczątków miał prawdopodobnie charakter incydentalny. Literatura Pacher, M., 2007. The type specimen of Ursus priscus Goldfuss, 1810 and the uncertain status of Late Pleistocene brown bears. ...
... Na podstawie analizy dużej liczby materiału można ostrożnie stwierdzić, że pozycja taksonomiczna dużej formy europejskiego, późnoplejstoceńskiego niedźwiedzia brunatnego Ursus arctos priscus Goldfuss 1818 wydaje się niejasna i może być kwestionowana. Z wyjątkiem większych rozmiarów, nie zostały zdefiniowane istotne cechy morfologiczne lub metryczne umożliwiające odróżnianie U. a. priscus jako osobnego podgatunku lub formy (Pacher, 2007). Niedźwiedź brunatny jako gatunek charakteryzuje się bardzo wyraźnym dymorfizmem płciowym i zmiennością osobniczą, co może całkowicie zafałszować wyniki analiz (Baryshnikov, 2007). ...
... Since the first description two centuries ago (Goldfuss, 1818a(Goldfuss, , 1818b, there are still no evident morphological features to describe the steppe brown bear as a distinct form. The overwhelming majority of authors given the great size as a key feature for the Late Pleistocene Eurasian brown bear (Baryshnikov, 2007;Pacher, 2007;Marciszak et al., 2015 and references therein). Although with some exceptions and still not fully clarified nature of this factor, it is general agreement that this character is one of the main features typical for the steppe brown bear. ...
... Finally, we also examined morphometrically the skull of "Ursus priscus", stored in the Natural History Museum in London. This skull was previously studied by various authors (Goldfuss, 1810(Goldfuss, , 1818a1818b, 1823Cuvier, 1834Cuvier, , 1835Lydekker, 1885;Owen, 1846;Middendorf, 1851;Wagner, 1851;Busk, 1879;Reynolds, 1906;Freudenberg, 1914;Rode, 1935;Erdbrink, 1953;Thenius, 1956) and history of those researchers was summarized by Pacher (2007). She concludes that the skull is identical to those in U. arctos, belonged to the female, its stratigraphic position is unclear and the type specimen described by Goldfuss cannot be used as a representative of the Late Pleistocene European brown bear. ...
... She concludes that the skull is identical to those in U. arctos, belonged to the female, its stratigraphic position is unclear and the type specimen described by Goldfuss cannot be used as a representative of the Late Pleistocene European brown bear. With a total length of 350 mm, the Zoolithen bear is rather small-sized specimen when compared with big skulls of Late Pleistocene age (Pacher, 2007). The dimensions well agree with values obtained for Carpathian bears, with the mean of males ca. ...
... 6 arctos priscus Goldfuss, 1818 was established as senior, firstly used to designate a new form (Pacher, 2007). ...
... Preliminary results of isotopic studies (Krajcarz et al., 2014c) also confirm a higher proportion of meat in the diet of the Pleistocene forms. In conclusion, we agree with many earlier authors (e.g., Thenius, 1956;Mostecký, 1963;Musil, 1964;Musil, 1996;Sabol, 2001aSabol, , 2001bPacher, 2007) on that the true U. arctos priscus may have represented quite a differ-ent form, that was adapted to open, steppe-like habitats. ...
... The ursid remains from the site Deutsch-Altenburg do neither differ in metrics of teeth nor of metapodial bones from Middle Pleistocene members of the U. arctos group. In a recent work Pacher (2007) was dealing with the taxonomic status of U. priscus Goldfuss (1818) and concluded that the name Ursus priscus has priority over other synonyma like Ursus " fossilis" Goldfuss (1821). The type specimen of U. priscus, a skull from Zoolithenhöhle (Germany), which is stored in the British Museum, shows no significant differences to a modern brown bear.
... Osteological remains of extinct representatives of Ursidae family are among the most common palaeontological discoveries in the Demä- (Sabol, 1999(Sabol, , 2001. However, the species status of U. priscus was recently disputed as the type material has the characteristics of the modern brown bear (U. arctos) (Pacher, 2007 (Fig. 15) and bears have already been described by Sabol (1999Sabol ( , 2006. However, bear fossils (171 teeth, 5 damaged jaws and 1 incomplete juvenile cranium) were determined only as Ursus sp. ...
... In conclusion, we agree with many earlier authors (e.g. Thenius, 1956;Mostecký, 1963;Musil, 1964Musil, , 1996Sabol, 2001aSabol, , 2001bPacher, 2007) on that the true Ursus arctos priscus may have represented a different brown bear form which was adapted to open, steppe-like habitats. ...
... Similarly to C. l. spelaeus, Ursus arctos priscus is not a different species but a form, something like an "ecotype", adapted to open habitats (Marciszak et al., , 2019a. A great size of this bear, commonly documented in the Late Pleistocene brown bears from numerous European sites could have been an adaptation to colder and more barren habitats (Erdbrink, 1953;Ehrenberg, 1955;Kurtén, 1956Kurtén, , 1959Kurtén, , 1968Thenius, 1956;Musil, 1964;Erdbrink, 1967;Ballesio, 1983, Sabol, 2001aBaryshnikov and Boeskorov, 2004;Pacher, 2007;Rabeder and Frischauf, 2016;Marciszak et al., 2017Marciszak et al., , 2019c). An extraordinary size of this bear from the Sudeten sites was already mentioned by Frenzel (1936).