Acta Zoologica Cracoviensia, 39(1) 1996

Issue:

VOL 39(1) 1996

Keywords:

Ursids, Quaternary cave sites, Greece, Turkey, Israel, dental morphology

Download PDF

Share this article:

Comparative study of ursid remains from the Quaternary of Greece, Turkey and Israel

• Evangelia TSOUKALA

Abstract:

Ursid remains from Quaternary cave sites in Greece, Turkey and Israel are compared and discussed. This material comes from Petralona and Loutraki (Greece), Yarimburgaz (Turkey) and an eroded karstic cave in the Upper Galilee (northern Israel). Each has been studied and analyzed previously. In Petralona, the predominant bear is a transitional form between Ursus deningeri and U. spelaeus, although three species (U. deningeri, U. spelaeus and U. cf. arctos) have been identified. These species have also been found in Yarimburgaz cave, while only U. deningeri has been recovered in Israel and U. spelaeus in the Loutraki caves. The discussion is based on both morphological and metrical analyses. The combination of arctoid and speleoid characters, as well as the astonishing size variability of U. deningeri from these sites, is notable. The Yarimburgaz remains of U. spelaeus represent one of the most robust morphotypes of the species, while those of U. cf. arctos represent one of the most slender types. The fourth premolars of the Yarimburgaz ursids show variation from very primitive to very evolved morphotypes. The lower premolar varies from a single cuspid to three cuspids, while the upper premolar varies from a simpler form to a more complicated one. There is thus a tendency to molarization of the lower premolars and a trend from broadened to more elongate occlusals. These characters are very clear in U. spelaeus from the Loutraki caves, as well as in the speleoid bear from Petralona, the elongation of the third lower molar of which is remarkable. The presence at Loutraki of abundant deciduous teeth, in spite of their fragility, as well as of abundant cranial remains, is remarkable, and in contrast to other sites, where even though there is an abundance of ursid material, milk teeth are rather rare.