Search

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]

There is a widespread belief that the abrupt warming at 14.7 ka had a profound impact on the environment. However, the direct correlation between the global climatic event and changes in local environments is not obvious. We examined faunal succession in an intra-mountain basin of the Western Carpathians to assess the potential influence of the climatic change between Greenland Stadial-2a and Greenland Interstadial-1e on the local environment. We investigated three vertebrate assemblages (total number of identified specimens = 18,745; minimum number of individuals = 7515; 138 taxa) from Obłazowa Cave (western entrance) and a Rock overhang in Cisowa Rock, radiocarbon dated to the period before and after the global warming, between ca. 17.0 and 14.0 ka. Our data revealed that the major abrupt warming that occurred 14.7 ka had little impact on the local environment, which could suggest that ecosystems in Central Europe were resilient to the abrupt global climate changes. The increase in fauna population sizes and species diversities in local biotopes was gradual and began long before the temperature increase. This was supported by the analysis of ancient DNA of Microtus arvalis, which showed a gradual increase in effective population size after 19.0 ka. The results of palaeoclimatic reconstruction pointed out that the compared sites were characterized by similar climatic conditions. According to our calculations, the differences in the annual mean temperatures did not exceed 0.5 °C and mean annual thermal amplitude changed from 22.9 to 22.4 °C. The environmental changes before 14.7 ka had no impact on the activity of Final Palaeolithic hunters in the studied area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mitogenomes are valuable data sources for phylogeographic and evolutionary studies of relatively closely related organisms. Here we describe eight complete sequences of moose mitogenomes belonging to the three clades of the European lineage and compare them with those of the Asian lineage. Mitochondrial genomes of moose and other cervids were used to infer highly resolved phylogenetic relationships and estimate divergence times. The analyses clearly distinguished two mtDNA lineages of moose and supported the division of the European lineage into three clades: East, West, and Central. The divergence of the European and Asian mtDNA lineages occurred in the Middle Pleistocene (ca. 443 kya), which significantly exceeds the fossil records of modern Alces alces dated to 100-200 kya. It indicates that the evolutionary history of the moose is more complex and could encompass inheritance of the ancestral variation. Our estimates also showed rapid diversification of present-day clades of the European lineage, which coincided with the transition from the Penultimate Glacial Period (MIS 6) and the Eemian interglacial (MIS 5) approximately 100 kya. Despite the strong division of the nucleotide sequences, we detected no evidence for the divergence ofamino acid sequences between Clade Central and Clade East. The recent diversification of A. alces clades, incombinationwiththeirevidentreciprocal monophyly, could be a result of low effective population size over its evolutionary history, augmented by severe bottlenecks during the Last Glacial Period. Our results are in agreement with the presence of different glacial refugia recently proposed for three identified clades of the European lineage and suggested the relict character of the Scandinavian (from Clade West) and the Biebrza moose population in northeastern Poland (belonging to Clade Central). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work summarises the state of the art of the studies on the fossil cervids of Poland, from the Miocene through to the present, with an extensive reference to the faunas of the rest of Eurasia and the World. It deals with more than 5500 remains of 16 species from 68 localities. The study intends to give an overview on the taxa present in Poland. The primary focus is on the evolution and stages of dispersal of Cervidae in the frame of the environmental changes that took place across Central Europe. The authors propose to place the bioevents of cervids in the Western European Plio-Pleistocene mammalian biochronological framework, which includes the Ruscinian, Villafranchian, Galerian and Aurelian Mammal Ages. The cervid remains are shown to have great biochronological significance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Pleistocene lion Panthera spelaea was not a homogenous taxon; it was represented by three chronoforms. The oldest one, from the Early and Middle Pleistocene, was P. s. fossilis , the youngest was the Late Pleistocene cave lion P. s. spelaea. The intermediate form between them was P. s. intermedia. The scarcity of stratigraphically old lion made it difficult to understand the evolution of this carnivore. Therefore, we revised the fossil material of the Pleistocene lion from Polish excavation sites. The analysis revealed the presence of P. s. fossilis in 7 sites: Tunel Wielki, Południowa, Wschodnia, Draby, Biśnik, Deszczowa and Wierzchowska Górna caves. The remains from these localities significantly differed in their average size and teeth proportions from the nominate younger chronoform, i.e. the cave lion. Using this material and all other available data, we compared the lion remains grouped into four palaeoclimate periods: MIS 17-12, MIS 11-9, MIS 8-6 and MIS 5-2. We found significant time-related trends in many morphometric features of dentition and limb bones. Between the first two periods, the lion became larger but from MIS 8, it gradually decreased in size. The teeth showed a much greater rate of changes than the metapodial bones, which in turn were characterised by more heterogeneous and mosaic evolution. The changes observed in the fossil material can result from in situ evolution of lion populations occupying Europe or immigration and replacement of the native forms by those from other regions, for example Asia. • P. s. fossilis differs from P. s. spelaea in larger size and teeth proportions. • Remains of P. s. fossilis are known in Poland from Tunel Wielki, Południowa, Draby, Biśnik and Wierzchowska Góra caves. • Dental features occurred more diagnostic and demonstrated more significant differences than the tarsal and metapodial bones. • The largest fraction of statistically discriminative traits had canine, P4, p4 and interestingly metatarsus V. • Generally, most measurements decreased over time, which indicates that the lion became smaller. • The limb bones usually increased in size and thickness, which could be relate to the better adaptation to confrontation with large preys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]