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Post by brobear on Jun 20, 2022 4:34:50 GMT -5
Quaternary International Volume 534, December 2019, Pages 158-170 www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1040618218308437#! Steppe brown bear Ursus arctos “priscus” from the Late Pleistocene of Europe Author links open overlay panel Adrian Marciszaka / Charles Schouwenburgb / Grzegorz Lipeckic / SahraTalamod / Andrey Shpanskye / Dmitriy Malikovf / WiktoriaGorniga Abstract The steppe brown bear U. a. “priscus” is constant but not a common member of the Late Pleistocene paleocommunities. It is not distinct arctoid species, but a large brown bear ecomorph which lived in open environments. Instead to speleoid bears, which disappeared ca. 26-24 ka BP, arctoid bears, thanks to their ecological plasticity, were present in most of the European areas even during the cold phases. The size and diet of these bears were modified under the climate conditions and food availability. U. a. “priscus” cannot be distinguished genetically, but it differs metrically and morphologically. It was a big sized form with enlarged and broad cheek teeth. Late Pleistocene brown bears, especially those lived before the LGM were more carnivorous than the Holocene and recent brown bear. The steppe brown bear survived till the beginning of the Holocene, where the last relict populations lived around the Baltic and the North Sea decreasing in size and merging genetically with widely distributed Eurasian populations of U. a. arctos.
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Post by brobear on Jun 20, 2022 4:37:05 GMT -5
Introduction: Ursid palaeontology has more than 300 years’ history. Therefore, Ursus arctos is arguably one of the best-studied mammals regarding its Pleistocene-Holocene biogeography together with few other big Late Pleistocene species such as Mammuthus primigenius, Coelodonta antiquitatis and Ursus spelaeus sensu lato. Extended studies have revealed the spatial and temporal dynamics of different populations and genetic lineages in detail (Musil, 1986; Davison et al., 2011). According to Sommer and Benecke (2005), brown bear recolonised Europe at the end of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) faster than any carnivore of the Holocene fauna. Later studies, however, showed more or less continual presence of the species in many European regions even during the coldest periods (Valdiosera et al., 2007; Davison et al., 2011; Edwards et al., 2014). During that time there were nor sufficient natural barriers for dispersion of the brown bear, and continuous gene flow across most of the European territory has been observed (Ersmark, 2016).
During these long-term studies researchers encountered from time to time remains of the arctoid bear, which was metrically and morphologically distinct from the average modern brown bear, which was classified under multiple names: U. ferox, horribilis, anglicus, priscus, arctoideus etc. (for details see synonymy in Erdbrink, 1953). Dimensions of some individuals, comparable in size with big cave bears, and similarity in cranial and postcranial and especially in the dental material caused that some authors suggested even possible hybridisation between these forms (Ehrenberg, 1938). Klaatsch (1906: 282) noted: “As a particular animal from the end of the ice period, the cave bear (Ursus spelaeus) has almost equal importance, such as mammoth and reindeer. At the same time, with him, undoubtedly, the brown bear (Ursus arctos) and the grey bear (Ursus ferox) also lived in Europe, whose remains are already in the Palaeolithic layers; the last of them, transcended ferocity and with greatness over a cave bear, was a more dangerous enemy of the diluvial man”. Similarly, Beushausen (1906: 535) mentioned the presence of an “immense grey bear”, which was contemporaneous with the brown and cave bear.
However, significant ecological plasticity, enormous intraspecific variability and wide geographical range caused that the taxonomical position of U. a. “priscus” is still not resolved. Since the first description two centuries ago (Goldfuss, 1818a, 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. Because the size was broadly discussed in three aforementioned papers, we focused more attention on morphological rather than metrical values.
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Post by brobear on Jun 20, 2022 4:37:59 GMT -5
Section snippets
Material Skulls of the fossil and subfossil brown bear from various Eurasian paleontological sites were examined in the paper. At least 25 skulls and 76 cranial fragments and isolated teeth of the Late Pleistocene age, 16 skulls and 34 cranial fragments and isolated teeth of the Holocene age and 78 skulls and 41 cranial fragments and isolated teeth of the modern brown bear of the nominative subspecies were taken into consideration. Below we presented few specimens, which documented great variability of
Methods Measurements were taken point to point, with an electronic calliper, to the nearest 0.1 mm. Each value (Table 2, Table 3) is the mean of three measurements. The mean is rounded to one decimal place. Measurements shown in brackets denote the estimated dimensional value. A standard scheme for measurements was applied and modified from Argant (2010) and is shown in Fig. 2. Osteological and dental terminology follows Baryshnikov (2007) and standard scheme for teeth measurements was applied and...
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Post by brobear on Jun 20, 2022 4:39:38 GMT -5
Section snippets Results The differences in skull morphology observed and previously described by other authors are in fact within intraspecific variability, as it is shown based on extensive collection of modern skulls. We conclude that it is impossible to find any stable cranial feature, distinguishing the steppe brown bear from the brown bear. It can be only observing a predominance of a combination of specific factors and indexes. From this point, we agree with the opinion of Erdbrink (1953) that enormous metrical
Discussion As a result of above analysis of dental characters, the samples formed two clusters, which overlap slightly and allow us to distinguish U. a. “priscus” from U. a. arctos. It is shown that the steppe brown bear was big and robust arctoid bear, with large and unusually broad cheek teeth (Thenius, 1956; Musil, 1964; Baryshnikov and Boeskorov, 2004; Baryshnikov, 2007; Rabeder et al., 2010).
After final establishing, that the steppe brown bear was morphometrically distinct from the nominative U. a.
Conclusions Steppe brown bear is a typical element of the open steppe and/or tundra-like grasslands, and it was distributed throughout the entire Northern Eurasia, from England and France on the west to the northern Yakutia on the east. Therefore, its distribution range coincides with those of extant U. arctos, confirmed that such environment was broadly ranged and covered a large part of Europe during some periods in the Late Pleistocene.
The genetic analysis does not distinguish U. a. “priscus” from U. a....
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Post by brobear on Jun 20, 2022 4:40:01 GMT -5
Acknowledgements We are very grateful to Dr. Oleksandr Kovalchuk for linguistic improvements and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful critical comments and suggestions. The authors also gratefully acknowledge the helpful comments and suggestions of prof. Rudolf Musil and prof. Gernot Rabeder. The special thanks goes to Mr Wiktor Litwińczuk, owner of the private Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography in Suraż, who provided the brown bear material from Narew river to the study. This work was supported by the ...
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Post by brobear on Jun 20, 2022 4:44:30 GMT -5
Palaeoecological and genetic analyses of Late Pleistocene bears in Asiatic Russia P. Kosintsev, H. Bocherens, +5 authors C. Lindqvist Environmental Science Boreas 2021 Brown bears are one of the few large carnivore species that survived the final Pleistocene wave of extinctions, perhaps in part owing to their wide ecological plasticity, variety of forms and polyphagia. Although the brown bear has become a well‐studied system, many questions remain regarding the ecological, trophic and genetic diversity throughout their distribution. For example, knowledge about Asiatic Russian brown bears from the Late Pleistocene arctic tundra steppe, an ecosystem with no analogue in modern times, is sparse. Here we compared diets, morphometry and genetic affinities of Late Pleistocene bears based on broadly sampled subfossil remains from Asiatic Russia. Collecting sites included the Ural Mountains, the lower reaches of the Irtysh River, the upper reaches of the Ob River, the Altai Mountains of western Siberia, the Indigirka–Kolyma Lowlands and northwestern Chukotka. An extremely large bear specimen from the middle Indigirka (41 090 14C a BP) that lived in landscapes of treeless shrubs and wet meadows had a diet composed principally of large herbivorous mammals. A bear from western Chukotka (25 880 14C a BP), much smaller in size, had a diet close to that of modern brown bears. These two Late Pleistocene NE Russian brown bears may comprise a previously undiscovered, but extinct, genetic lineage. At the end of the Pleistocene (MIS 3 and MIS 2), the brown bears from the Ob River Valley and Urals lived in periglacial forest‐steppes and those from the southern Urals in conditions of periglacial steppe. Brown bears from the Ob River valley and Urals, as well as ancient Altai bears, were characterized by a varied diet, from polyphagia to vegetarianism. In living brown bears, the proportions of different dietary foods are primarily related to food availability, which depends on the geographical zone and climatic conditions. We conclude that the same was true for Late Pleistocene brown bears of NE Siberia. www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Steppe-brown-bear-Ursus-arctos-%E2%80%9Cpriscus%E2%80%9D-from-the-Marciszak-Schouwenburg/1fdf44d479ba7eba04ca2395334bddf3e1802b1b
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Post by brobear on Jun 20, 2022 5:00:24 GMT -5
Since it may be relevant to this topic I'm attaching here a paper about the extinct U. arctos priscus by Marciszak (the same author of the cave lion paper mentioned above). U. a. priscus was an extremely massive bear, which could reach up to 1000 kg according to the authors. It was more carnivorous than extant brown bears, and its great size and power may be an adaptation to 'active scavenging'. Likely an important part of their diet came from usurping kills from other predators, as described in the paper. By comparison Ussuri brown bears are mainly vegetarian, and probably less adapted to kleptoparasitism. file:///C:/Users/CLM/Downloads/Steppe_brown_bear_Ursus_arctos_priscus_f.pdf From Hraefen You can read the rest on the link. it is 13 pages altogether. The Steppe bear was highly carnivorous so as to evade competition with the highly vegetarian cave bears. Today's Ussuri brown bear consumes less meat, as all Eurasian brown bears do, ever since the giant cave bears went extinct. However, when the Ussuri brown bear does search for meat, he goes hunting and kills his own prey, scavenges on found carcasses, and also displaces other predators such as wolves, leopards, and tigers. All bears are kleptoparasites though some species more than others. It's what bears do.
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Post by brobear on Jul 10, 2022 2:34:46 GMT -5
Pleistocene brown bear (Ursus arctos priscus) chases cave hyenas. Drawing By Roman Evseev
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Post by OldGreenGrolar on Jul 11, 2022 4:35:38 GMT -5
/\ One of the biggest kleptoparasites at that time.
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Post by brobear on Oct 9, 2022 16:14:07 GMT -5
Steppe Brown Bear - Ursus arctos priscus The steppe brown bear (Ursus arctos priscus) is a disputed extinct subspecies of brown bear that lived in Eurasia during either the Pleistocene or the early Holocene epochs, but its geological age is uncertain. Fossils of the bear have been found in various caves in Slovakia, particularly those of Vazec, Vyvieranie, Lisková, Kupcovie Izbicka, and Okno. It is argued that the species should be rendered invalid, as its geological age is unclear and "its skull is identical to modern U. arctos." Adult males in average would have weighed 700–800 kg (1,500–1,800 lb), with the largest individuals weighing up to 1,000 kg (2,200 lb). It was more carnivorous than a modern brown bear, consuming 50 kg (110 lb) of meat per day.
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Post by brobear on Jan 6, 2023 10:27:41 GMT -5
Steppe brown bear Ursus arctos “priscus” from the Late Pleistocene of Europe www.researchgate.net/publication/331475196_Steppe_brown_bear_Ursus_arctos_priscus_from_the_Late_Pleistocene_of_Europe The steppe brown bear U. a. “priscus” is constant but not a common member of the Late Pleistocene paleocommunities. It is not distinct arctoid species, but a large brown bear ecomorph which lived in open environments. Instead to speleoid bears, which disappeared ca. 26-24 ka BP, arctoid bears, thanks to their ecological plasticity, were present in most of the European areas even during the cold phases. The size and diet of these bears were modified under the climate conditions and food availability. U. a. “priscus” cannot be distinguished genetically, but it differs metrically and morphologically. It was a big sized form with enlarged and broad cheek teeth. Late Pleistocene brown bears, especially those lived before the LGM were more carnivorous than the Holocene and recent brown bear. The steppe brown bear survived till the beginning of the Holocene, where the last relict populations lived around the Baltic and the North Sea decreasing in size and merging genetically with widely distributed Eurasian populations of U. a. arctos.
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Post by theundertaker45 on May 16, 2023 4:11:31 GMT -5
How big was the ancient Steppe Brown Bear "Ursus arctos priscus"?
In scientific literature it is quoted that Ursus arctos priscus was capable of reaching the 1000kg mark; let's take a look at the dimensions this huge brown bear would have had. The base of it is Blanchard's study on Yellowstone grizzlies with an appliable sample of over 20 male grizzlies measured for all sorts of morphometrics. Additional data comes from coastal grizzly bears and Ussuri brown bears.
Head-Body Length
1. HB-length over the curves
Standard relation based on 36 adult male brown bears: 208.25cm and 243.61kg -> 243.61/2.0825³ = ~26.97 -> 1000/x³ = ~26.91 -> x=? -> x = 3.3344 (via symbolab) -> HB-length over the curves = 333.44cm
2. HB-length straight line
Standard relation based on 50 adult male brown bears: 196cm over curves and 162cm straight line -> 162/196 = ~0.83 -> x/333.44 = ~0.83 -> x=? -> x = 275.6 -> HB-length straight line = 275.6cm
Shoulder Height
Standard relation based on 22 adult male brown bears: 203kg and 96cm SH -> 203/0.96³ = ~229.45 -> 1000/x³ = ~229.45 -> x=? -> x = 1.6335 (via symbolab) -> Shoulder height = 163.35cm
Chest Girth
Standard relation based on 27 adult male brown bears: 237.44kg and 140.44cm -> 237.44/1.4044³ = ~85.72 -> 1000/x³ = ~85.72 -> x=? -> x = 2.268 (via symbolab) -> Chest girth = 226.8cm
Neck Circumference
Standard relation based on 28 adult male brown bears: 239.5kg and 84.21cm -> 239.5/0.8421³ = ~401.07 -> 1000/x³ = ~401.07 -> x=? -> x = 1.356 (via symbolab) -> Neck circumference = 135.6cm
To conclude, the biggest known specimens of Ursus arctos priscus discovered until this day would have weighed 1000kg, measured 333cm along the body, stood 163cm tall on all fours, measured 227cm around the chest and 136cm around the neck. Coincidentally this brute's neck girth would have been about the chest girth of an average modern Yellowstone grizzly bear.
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Post by brobear on May 16, 2023 4:50:14 GMT -5
Incredibly informative post 'Taker. HB-length over the curves = 333.44cm or 10 ft. 11.28 in. Shoulder height = 163.35cm or 5 ft 4.31 in. Chest girth = 226.8cm or 7 ft 5.28 in. Neck circumference = 135.6cm or 4 ft 5.39 in. 1,000 kg or 2,204.62 pounds.
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Post by Deleted on May 22, 2023 14:23:25 GMT -5
How big was the ancient Steppe Brown Bear "Ursus arctos priscus"?In scientific literature it is quoted that Ursus arctos priscus was capable of reaching the 1000kg mark; let's take a look at the dimensions this huge brown bear would have had. The base of it is Blanchard's study on Yellowstone grizzlies with an appliable sample of over 20 male grizzlies measured for all sorts of morphometrics. Additional data comes from coastal grizzly bears and Ussuri brown bears. Head-Body Length
1. HB-length over the curves Standard relation based on 36 adult male brown bears: 208.25cm and 243.61kg -> 243.61/2.0825³ = ~26.97 -> 1000/x³ = ~26.91 -> x=? -> x = 3.3344 (via symbolab) -> HB-length over the curves = 333.44cm
2. HB-length straight line Standard relation based on 50 adult male brown bears: 196cm over curves and 162cm straight line -> 162/196 = ~0.83 -> x/333.44 = ~0.83 -> x=? -> x = 275.6 -> HB-length straight line = 275.6cmShoulder HeightStandard relation based on 22 adult male brown bears: 203kg and 96cm SH -> 203/0.96³ = ~229.45 -> 1000/x³ = ~229.45 -> x=? -> x = 1.6335 (via symbolab) -> Shoulder height = 163.35cm
Chest GirthStandard relation based on 27 adult male brown bears: 237.44kg and 140.44cm -> 237.44/1.4044³ = ~85.72 -> 1000/x³ = ~85.72 -> x=? -> x = 2.268 (via symbolab) -> Chest girth = 226.8cm
Neck Circumference
Standard relation based on 28 adult male brown bears: 239.5kg and 84.21cm -> 239.5/0.8421³ = ~401.07 -> 1000/x³ = ~401.07 -> x=? -> x = 1.356 (via symbolab) -> Neck circumference = 135.6cm
To conclude, the biggest known specimens of Ursus arctos priscus discovered until this day would have weighed 1000kg, measured 333cm along the body, stood 163cm tall on all fours, measured 227cm around the chest and 136cm around the neck. Coincidentally this brute's neck girth would have been about the chest girth of an average modern Yellowstone grizzly bear. There is a problem with this post: which bones measurements of Ursus Arctos Priscus have you used to make your calculations?
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Post by theundertaker45 on May 23, 2023 3:05:26 GMT -5
@hibernours
I didn't use bone measurements, I used a database of real-life measurements and their relation to body weight. The post is to see which dimensions a full 1000kg brown bear would have if it existed back in the day. If you mean where the 1000kg figure comes from, there is a study investigating about 80 skulls of Ursus arctos priscus and the authors come to the conclusion that the biggest males could have weighed 1000kg.
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Post by Deleted on May 23, 2023 3:55:39 GMT -5
@hibernours I didn't use bone measurements, I used a database of real-life measurements and their relation to body weight. The post is to see which dimensions a full 1000kg brown bear would have if it existed back in the day. If you mean where the 1000kg figure comes from, there is a study investigating about 80 skulls of Ursus arctos priscus and the authors come to the conclusion that the biggest males could have weighed 1000kg. Ok i see, it is an interesting attempts of your part. But could you provide me some data with measurements that give us the proof that large males Ursus arctos priscus had a skull with a length greater than those of largest modern brown bears please?
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Post by theundertaker45 on May 23, 2023 4:17:07 GMT -5
@hibernours I'll reply with one post here answering both questions. I'll attach two snippets below, the first listing the biggest brown bear skulls collected from Boone and Crockett's. You can see the specimen from Port Heiden in there, having a GSL of roughly 503.24mm but not even making the Top 5. The second shows some of the skulls investigated in the study on Ursus arctos priscus. The largest of those was 480mm in greatest length and two others were over 440mm. You are right, none of those exceeds 503mm and falls within the region of the biggest Kodiak bears. Also, the authors don't cite any paper for their 1000kg estimation. What I think they did was assuming the biggest males weighed 1000kg considering that with only a few skulls of fully grown adult males collected, 3 of them would have already made an entry into the Boone and Crockett's list of biggest brown bear skulls. In modern Kodiak bears the probability of finding a male with a 480mm skull is probably 1 out of 100.000 or a million (like finding a human standing over 250cm tall); only one bear had a skull measuring above that mark on Boone and Crockett's list with hundreds of huge Kodiak bears. So in my opinion, finding a skull of those dimensions within a very select sample tells you that these bears were absolutely gigantic and very likely a good deal bigger than modern Kodiak bears. Maybe the authors have unpublished postcranial material in their hands too and this may have supported their assumption, I don't know. However, if you want to be really conservative and not leave any room for interpretation, you have to say that the largest Ursus arctos priscus males were about the size of the largest Kodiak bear males. I personally wouldn't agree with this though as in the entire natural history of North America there only was one brown bear skull exceeding 480mm out of thousands of individuals collected. And here we are with possibly 10 adult male skulls of Ursus arctos priscus and one of them already measures 480mm and two others over 440mm. So in my opinion it is very clear that those brown bears were larger than modern Kodiak bears by a good deal.
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Post by Deleted on May 23, 2023 4:31:47 GMT -5
@hibernours I'll reply with one post here answering both questions. I'll attach two snippets below, the first listing the biggest brown bear skulls collected from Boone and Crockett's. You can see the specimen from Port Heiden in there, having a GSL of roughly 503.24mm but not even making the Top 5. The second shows some of the skulls investigated in the study on Ursus arctos priscus. The largest of those was 480mm in greatest length and two others were over 440mm. You are right, none of those exceeds 503mm and falls within the region of the biggest Kodiak bears. Also, the authors don't cite any paper for their 1000kg estimation. What I think they did was assuming the biggest males weighed 1000kg considering that with only a few skulls of fully grown adult males collected, 3 of them would have already made an entry into the Boone and Crockett's list of biggest brown bear skulls. In modern Kodiak bears the probability of finding a male with a 480mm skull is probably 1 out of 100.000 or a million (like finding a human standing over 250cm tall); only one bear had a skull measuring above that mark on Boone and Crockett's list with hundreds of huge Kodiak bears. So in my opinion, finding a skull of those dimensions within a very select sample tells you that these bears were absolutely gigantic and very likely a good deal bigger than modern Kodiak bears. Maybe the authors have unpublished postcranial material in their hands too and this may have supported their assumption, I don't know. However, if you want to be really conservative and not leave any room for interpretation, you have to say that the largest Ursus arctos priscus males were about the size of the largest Kodiak bear males. I personally wouldn't agree with this though as in the entire natural history of North America there only was one brown bear skull exceeding 480mm out of thousands of individuals collected. And here we are with possibly 10 adult male skulls of Ursus arctos priscus and one of them already measures 480mm and two others over 440mm. So in my opinion it is very clear that those brown bears were larger than modern Kodiak bears by a good deal. Ok, i give you thanks for the data you have provided, it is more rigorous. (It would be much more interesting if we could debate with serious and scientific data like these rather than wasting time about endless discussions about animal vs animal). I tend to agree with you, you are right statistically speaking. It is possible that Ursus arctos priscus was huge, but data is data and without concrete data all our arguments are only statistical guess. But concerning large bears, we always speak about the same bear species. There are some other contenders for the largest bears, for example we have a gigantic mandibule about Indarctos and no one is paying attention to this fact, it is a bit disappointing...
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Post by theundertaker45 on May 23, 2023 8:49:48 GMT -5
@hibernours Interesting, didn't you talk about the Indarctos mandible before in another thread? I'd like to know more about it. Are you aware that there currently exists an Ursus spelaeus (ingressus) skull measuring over 570mm in greatest length? That might potentially be the biggest bear of all time.
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Post by Deleted on May 23, 2023 10:55:44 GMT -5
I am aware about this enormous skull, 570mm is incredible but there is one question: Did cave bears had proportionnally bigger head than other bears? The length is not the only factor of course. We must take in account the width at the zygomatic arches. For example, i remember reading a paper in which a skull of Arctodus Simus was "only" 490 mm in length but with a width of 360 mm, do you realize how large it is? The problem is that in order to have a better estimation of the size of prehistoric bears, we must have good information about their proportions and it is difficult. I provided the paper concerning the huge mandibule which is 362.54mm in length, it is enormous. So, for now we can't really tell which bear was the largest but i think some of them had a mass greater than 1000 kg. Imagine a 1000kg bear which is not fat...
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