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This comprehensive study examines fossil remains from Niedźwiedzia Cave in the Eastern Sudetes, offering detailed insights into the palaeobiology and adversities encountered by the Pleistocene cave bear Ursus spelaeus ingressus. Emphasising habitual cave use for hibernation and a primarily herbivorous diet, the findings attribute mortality to resource scarcity during hibernation and habitat fragmentation amid climate shifts. Taphonomic analysis indicates that the cave was extensively used by successive generations of bears, virtually unexposed to the impact of predators. The study also reveals that alkaline conditions developed in the cave during the post-depositional taphonomic processes. Mortality patterns, notably among juveniles, imply dwindling resources, indicative of environmental instability. Skeletal examination reveals a high incidence of forelimb fractures, indicating risks during activities like digging or confrontations. Palaeopathological evidence unveils vulnerabilities to tuberculosis, abscesses, rickets, and injuries, elucidating mobility challenges. The cave's silts exhibit a high zinc concentration, potentially derived from successive bear generations consuming zinc-rich plants. This study illuminates the lives of late cave bears, elucidating unique environmental hurdles faced near their species' end. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Pleistocene history of the leopard (Panthera pardus) in Europe has been documented by the material obtained from 312 localities, with the last dated ∼1.1 Myr. The relatively small and gracile form of the leopard was very rare during the late Early and Middle Pleistocene. Only after the disappearance of the jaguar (Panthera gombaszoegensis) did P. pardus spread widely in Europe, increasing in size and ecologically substituting P. gombaszoegensis. The number of late Middle Pleistocene localities with leopard remains, younger than 300 kyr, increased considerably. The leopard reached the maximum extension of its geographical range in the Late Pleistocene. The Iberian Peninsula was the last European refuge for this cat. Six sites, the Naciekowa, Obok Wschodniej, Radochowska, and Wschodnia Caves from the Sudety Mountains and the Biśnik and Dziadowa Skała Caves from the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland, have documented the presence of the leopard in Poland between MIS 10/9 and MIS 3. These records are from rocky regions with rugged terrain and are located in the territory of Silesia (southern Poland). A newly obtained radiocarbon date (43–42 kyr) from the Radochowska Cave directly confirms the occurrence of P. pardus in the Sudety Mountains in the middle part of MIS 3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transverse lines, called Harris Lines (HL), osteological markers of recovery from growth arrest episodes, are visible in radiograms of recent and Pleistocene fossil bones. Since on the one hand they mark stressful episodes in life, and on the other are mainly used to trace health fluctuations in prehistoric human communities, I used a cave bear population to check if the processes that could affect the specie’ condition were in any way reflected in the bone structure. 392 bear bones from Bear Cave in Kletno (collection: Department of Palaeozoology, University of Wrocław), dated as 32 100 ±1300 to >49 000 years BP, were radiologically examined. The bones were found in a non-anatomical position; morphological analysis indicated that they belonged to different individuals. HL shadows were observed on 9 tibiae and 3 radii: 8.8% out of the 59 tibiae and 77 radii and 3.1% of all the bones. At least 3 transverse lines were recognised in those cases; the specimens were histologically examined. The bear individuals in question experienced regular malnutrition periods during their ontogeny. Starvation resulting in growth inhibition involved young individuals, aged 1 to 4 years. Juveniles aged 6 months, i.e. before weaning, or younger, showed no signs of nutritional stress. Starvation periods associated with seasonal food deficit were not long or common and had no significant effect on the development and welfare of the species. This is the first description of the occurrence of transverse lines in the Pleistocene bear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The analyzed specimen was found in the 1930s by Zotz, in Wschodnia cave (German name Hellmichhöhle, now W Sudeten Mts, Poland). Currently, it is housed in the Archaeological Museum of Wrocław. It is a well preserved splanchnocranium with teeth of an adult Eurasian brown bear. Integral part of the skull is also an intact mandible. Several postcranial skeletal bones were also found for this specimen, including one rib with a human-drilled hole. For the above-mentioned specimen, three C14 datings were made using the AMS method. All three dates gave similar results, allowing the age of the find (after calibration) to be estimated at 14.8-13.8 KY BC, i.e. the Bølling phase of relatively older Dryas. Taxonomic assignation, based on the morphometrical analysis, was confirmed by DNA analysis. It represents subclade 1b, recently identified in Carpathian Mts. The degree of wear of his tooth crowns, especially his incisors and canines, is remarkable, which is completely inadequate to the wear of the remaining teeth and to the individual's age. German researchers suggested that the procedure was performed by a human for ritual purposes. However, the anthropological nature of this find was questioned by Polish researchers, who said that the process was natural and that the abrasion of the front teeth was the result of a malocclusion. Our analyses confirm the earlier assumptions of German scientists that the pathologies visible on the teeth are the result of anthropogenic effects, which was the aim of our research. It is also indirect evidence of the presence of Homo sapiens in the Late Pleistocene of the Sudeten areas of Poland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The wooly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis) and forest rhinoceros (Stephanorhinus kirchbergensis) were prominent representatives of the Middle and Late Pleistocene glacial and interglacial faunas of Eurasia. Their diet has traditionally been inferred on functional morphology of the dentition and skull. In rare cases, food remains are preserved in the fossas of the teeth or as gut content. New approaches to infer diet include the study of isotopes and mesowear. Here we apply all four methods to infer the diet of these emblematic rhinoceros' species and compare the food actually taken with the food available, as indicated by independent botanical data from the localities where the rhinoceros' fossils were found: Gorzów Wielkopolski (Eemian) and Starunia (Middle Vistulian) as well as analysis of literature data. We also made inferences on the season of death of these individuals. Our results indicate that the woolly rhino in both Europe and Asia (Siberia) was mainly a grazer, although at different times of the year and depending on the region its diet was also supplemented by leaves of shrubs and trees. According to the results of isotope studies, there were important individual variations. The data show a clear seasonal variation in the isotope composition of this rhino's diet. In contrast, Stephanorhinus kirchbergensis was a browser, though its diet included low-growing vegetation. Its habitat consisted of various types of forests, from riparian to deciduous and mixed forests, and open areas. The diet of this species consisted of selected items of vegetation, also including plants growing near both flowing and standing waters. The food remains from the fossae of the teeth indicated flexible browsing, confirming the previous interpretations based on functional morphology and stable isotopes. Long-term data from mesowear and microwear across a wider range of S. kirchbergensis fossils indicate a more mixed diet with a browsing component. The different diets of both of rhinoceros reflect not only the different habitats, but also climate changes that occurred during the Late Pleistocene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A vertebrate fauna from the new Middle Pleistocene locality Lysa Gora 1 of Southern Ukraine (Zaporizhya region) is described. The locality has yielded an assemblage of at least 11 taxa of bony fishes (Cypriniformes, Siluriformes, Esociformes, Perciformes) and small mammals (Lagomorpha – 2 taxa, Rodentia – 11 species). The species composition of Arvicolidae, particularly the presence of Lagurus transiens, Eolagurus luteus, Arvicola mosbachensis, Microtus (Terricola) arvalidens, and Microtus (Stenocranius) gregalis, as well as the structure of the fauna, suggests Middle Pleistocene age (MQR 4, MIS 13-12, Early Toringian). New data on the paleoecology of the locality and taxonomy/phylogeny of selected taxa are discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]