Editing Cave bear (section)

==Range and habitat==
The cave bear's range stretched across Europe; from [[Spain]]<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rodríguez-Almagro |first=Manuel |last2=Gómez-Olivencia |first2=Asier |last3=Villalba de Alvarado |first3=Mónica |last4=Arsuaga |first4=Juan Luis |last5=Sala |first5=Nohemi |date=January 2024 |title=Taphonomic study of the cave bears (Ursus cf. deningeri and U. spelaeus) from the Sima I of the El Polvorín cave (Northern Iberian Peninsula) |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S2666033424000091 |journal=Quaternary Science Advances |language=en |volume=13 |pages=100171 |doi=10.1016/j.qsa.2024.100171 |access-date=3 May 2024 |via=Elsevier Science Direct|doi-access=free }}</ref> and the [[British Isles]] in the west,<ref name="extinction" /> Belgium,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bray |first=Fabrice |last2=Flament |first2=Stéphanie |last3=Abrams |first3=Grégory |last4=Bonjean |first4=Dominique |last5=Rolando |first5=Christian |last6=Tokarski |first6=Caroline |last7=Auguste |first7=Patrick |date=19 June 2022 |title=Extinct species identification from late middle Pleistocene and earlier Upper Pleistocene bone fragments and tools not recognizable from their osteomorphological study by an enhanced proteomics protocol |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/arcm.12800 |journal=[[Archaeometry]] |language=en |volume=65 |issue=1 |pages=196–212 |doi=10.1111/arcm.12800 |issn=0003-813X |access-date=13 May 2024 |via=Wiley Online Library|hdl=20.500.12210/77657 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> [[Italy]],<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Martini |first=Ivan |last2=Coltorti |first2=Mauro |last3=Mazza |first3=Paul P.A. |last4=Rustioni |first4=Marco |last5=Sandrelli |first5=Fabio |date=January 2014 |title=The latest Ursus spelaeus in Italy, a new contribution to the extinction chronology of the cave bear |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0033589400002118/type/journal_article |journal=[[Quaternary Research]] |language=en |volume=81 |issue=1 |pages=117–124 |doi=10.1016/j.yqres.2013.10.003 |issn=0033-5894 |access-date=3 May 2024 |via=Cambridge Core}}</ref> parts of [[Germany]],<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Münzel |first=Susanne C. |last2=Stiller |first2=Mathias |last3=Hofreiter |first3=Michael |last4=Mittnik |first4=Alissa |last5=Conard |first5=Nicholas J. |last6=Bocherens |first6=Hervé |date=6 December 2011 |title=Pleistocene bears in the Swabian Jura (Germany): Genetic replacement, ecological displacement, extinctions and survival |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1040618211002345 |journal=[[Quaternary International]] |language=en |volume=245 |issue=2 |pages=225–237 |doi=10.1016/j.quaint.2011.03.060 |access-date=3 May 2024 |via=Elsevier Science Direct}}</ref> [[Poland]],<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Baca |first=Mateusz |last2=Popović |first2=Danijela |last3=Stefaniak |first3=Krzysztof |last4=Marciszak |first4=Adrian |last5=Urbanowski |first5=Mikołaj |last6=Nadachowski |first6=Adam |last7=Mackiewicz |first7=Paweł |date=11 October 2016 |title=Retreat and extinction of the Late Pleistocene cave bear (Ursus spelaeus sensu lato) |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s00114-016-1414-8 |journal=[[The Science of Nature]] |language=en |volume=103 |issue=11-12 |doi=10.1007/s00114-016-1414-8 |issn=0028-1042 |pmc=5059403 |pmid=27730265 |access-date=3 May 2024 |via=Springer Link}}</ref> the [[Balkans]],<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Cvetković |first=Nevena J. |last2=Dimitrijević |first2=Vesna M. |date=7 August 2014 |title=Cave bears (Carnivora, Ursidae) from the Middle and Late Pleistocene of Serbia: A revision |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1040618213008252 |journal=[[Quaternary International]] |language=en |volume=339-340 |pages=197–208 |doi=10.1016/j.quaint.2013.10.045 |access-date=3 May 2024 |via=Elsevier Science Direct}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Seetah |first=T. Krish |last2=Cardini |first2=Andrea |last3=Miracle |first3=Preston T. |date=February 2012 |title=Can morphospace shed light on cave bear spatial-temporal variation? Population dynamics of Ursus spelaeus from Romualdova pećina and Vindija, (Croatia) |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0305440311003645 |journal=[[Journal of Archaeological Science]] |language=en |volume=39 |issue=2 |pages=500–510 |doi=10.1016/j.jas.2011.10.005 |access-date=3 May 2024 |via=Elsevier Science Direct}}</ref> [[Romania]],<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Quilès |first=Jérôme |last2=Petrea |first2=Catalin |last3=Moldovan |first3=Oana |last4=Zilhão |first4=João |last5=Rodrigo |first5=Ricardo |last6=Rougier |first6=Hélène |last7=Constantin |first7=Silviu |last8=Milota |first8=Ştefan |last9=Gherase |first9=Mircea |last10=Sarcină |first10=Laurenţiu |last11=Trinkaus |first11=Erik |date=December 2006 |title=Cave bears (Ursus spelaeus) from the Peştera cu Oase (Banat, Romania): Paleobiology and taphonomy |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1631068306001205 |journal=[[Comptes Rendus Palevol]] |language=en |volume=5 |issue=8 |pages=927–934 |doi=10.1016/j.crpv.2006.09.005 |access-date=3 May 2024 |via=Elsevier Science Direct}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bojar |first=Ana-Voica |last2=Piotrowska |first2=Natalia |last3=Barbu |first3=Victor |last4=Bojar |first4=Hans-Peter |last5=Pawełczyk |first5=Fatima |last6=Smeu |first6=Andrei |last7=Guja |first7=Ovidiu |date=24 July 2024 |title=Ursus spelaeus (Rosenmüller, 1794) during the MIS 3: new evidence from the Cioclovina Uscată Cave and radiocarbon age overview for the Carpathians* |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10256016.2024.2376730%4010.1080/tfocoll.2024.0.issue-ESIR2023 |journal=Isotopes in Environmental and Health Studies |volume=0 |issue=0 |pages=1–13 |doi=10.1080/10256016.2024.2376730 |issn=1025-6016 |pmid=39049521 |access-date=14 March 2025 |via=Taylor and Francis Online|doi-access=free }}</ref> [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]], and parts of [[Russia]],<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kosintsev |first=P.A. |last2=Gasilin |first2=V.V. |last3=Gimranov |first3=D.O. |last4=Bachura |first4=O.P. |date=28 October 2016 |title=Carnivores (Mammalia, Carnivora) of the Urals in the Late Pleistocene and Holocene |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1040618215010757 |journal=[[Quaternary International]] |language=en |volume=420 |pages=145–155 |doi=10.1016/j.quaint.2015.10.089 |access-date=3 May 2024 |via=Elsevier Science Direct}}</ref> including the [[Caucasus]]; and northern [[Iran]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Amiri |first=S. |last2=Biglari |first2=F. |last3=Argant |first3=A. |last4=Crégut-Bonnoure |first4=E. |last5=Mohaseb |first5=A. F. |last6=Noseda |first6=A. |last7=Moradi Bistouni |first7=A. |last8=Mashkour |first8=M. |date=November 2022 |title=The Pleistocene Biodiversity of the Zagros Mountains: Carnivores of the Chenar Cave (Kermanshah- Iran) |url=https://hal.science/hal-04036403 |journal=ASWA Archaeozoology of SouthWest Asia and Adjacent Areas. Tokyo Japan |location=Tokyo, Japan}}</ref> No traces of cave bears have been found in the northern British Isles, [[Scandinavia]] or the [[Baltic countries]], which were all covered in extensive [[glacier]]s at the time. The largest numbers of cave bear remains have been found in [[Austria]], [[Switzerland]], northern Italy, northern Spain, southern France, and Romania, roughly corresponding with the Pyrenees, Alps, and Carpathians. The huge number of bones found in southern, central and eastern Europe has led some scientists to think Europe may have once had herds of cave bears. Others, however, point out that, though some caves have thousands of bones, they were accumulated over a period of 100,000 years or more, thus requiring only two deaths in a cave per year to account for the large numbers.<ref name="bieder"/>

The cave bear inhabited low mountainous areas, especially in regions rich in [[limestone]] caves. They seem to have avoided open plains, preferring forested or forest-edged terrains.<ref name="bieder"/>