The cave bears from Imanay Cave (Southern Urals, Russia)

In the rich vertebrate fauna of Imanay Cave the abundant material of the small-sized cave bears was originally assigned to the taxon Ursus savini. Teeth and metapodials of statistical amounts were compared with other cave bear faunas and the taxonomic position was determined through morphological and metric analyses. The size of teeth and metapodial bones is significantly smaller in Imanay Cave bears compared to the typical U. deningeri from Mosbach and Hundsheim. Although the teeth are smaller, they reached higher evolutionary level than those from Mosbach or Hundsheim.The bear remains from Imanay Cave show great similarities to the fossils from Kizel Cave in the Ural Mountains described as Ursus rossicus Borissiak, 1930 but also to the remains of small-bodied cave bears of the Alps described as Ursus deningeroides Mottl, 1964. Remarkable are the differences in size of the front dentition: the incisors from Imanay Cave are on average >10% longer and wider than the corresponding teeth from U. deningeroides but also wider than the classic U. deningeri. Preliminary carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analyses suggest that the small cave bears from Imanay Cave were herbivorous.

Automated summary

Based on morphological and metric analyses, the study found that the small-sized cave bears in Imanay Cave share great similarities with fossils from Kizel Cave in the Ural Mountains and small-bodied cave bears in the Alps. Compared with the fossils from the Ural Mountains, the teeth and metapodial bones of Imanay Cave bears are smaller but show a higher evolutionary level. Preliminary stable isotope analysis indicates that the small cave bears in Imanay Cave were herbivorous.