Editing Cave bear (section)

==Extinction==
[[File:Medvebarlang21.jpg|thumb|Skeleton of a cave bear in the '"[[Bears' Cave]]", [[Chișcău]], [[Romania]]]]
Reassessment of fossils in 2019 indicate that the cave bear probably died out 24,000 years ago.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Terlato|first1=Gabriele|last2=Bocherens|first2=Hervé|last3=Romandini|first3=Matteo|last4=Nannini|first4=Nicola|last5=Hobson|first5=Keith A.|last6=Peresani|first6=Marco|date=21 April 2019|title=Chronological and Isotopic data support a revision for the timing of cave bear extinction in Mediterranean Europe|url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08912963.2018.1448395|journal=[[Historical Biology]]|language=en|volume=31|issue=4|pages=474–484|doi=10.1080/08912963.2018.1448395|bibcode=2019HBio...31..474T |s2cid=90029163|issn=0891-2963}}</ref> A complex set of factors, rather than a single factor, are suggested to have led to the extinction.<ref name="Withering">{{cite journal |author=Stiller, Mathias |display-authors=etal |year=2010 |title=Withering Away—25,000 Years of Genetic Decline Preceded Cave Bear Extinction |journal=[[Molecular Biology and Evolution]] |volume=27 |issue=5 |pages=975–978 |doi=10.1093/molbev/msq083 |pmid=20335279 |doi-access=}}</ref>

Compared with other [[megafauna]]l species that also became extinct during the Last Glacial Maximum, the cave bear was believed to have had a more specialized diet of high-quality plants and a relatively restricted geographical range. This was suggested as an explanation as to why it died out so much earlier than the rest.<ref name="extinction">{{cite journal |author1=Pacher M. |author2=Stuart A.J. |year=2009 |title=Extinction chronology and palaeobiology of the cave bear (''Ursus spelaeus'') |journal=[[Boreas (journal)|Boreas]] |volume=38 |issue=2 |pages=189–206 |bibcode=2009Borea..38..189P |doi=10.1111/j.1502-3885.2008.00071.x |s2cid=128603825 |via=Wiley Online Library}}</ref> Some experts have disputed this claim, as the cave bear had survived multiple [[climate change]]s prior to extinction. Additionally, [[mitochondrial DNA]] research indicated that the genetic decline of the cave bear began long before it became extinct, demonstrating habitat loss due to climate change was not responsible.<ref name="Withering"/> Finally, high [[Nitrogen-15|δ<sup>15</sup>N]] levels were found in cave bear bones from [[Romania]], indicating wider dietary possibilities than previously believed.<ref name="Omnivore">{{cite journal |author1=Trinkaus, Erik  |author2=Richards, Michael P. |title=Reply to Grandal and Fernández: Hibernation can also cause high δ15N values in cave bears |doi=10.1073/pnas.0801137105 |journal=[[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America]] |volume=105 |issue=11 |pages=E15 |year=2008 |pmc=2393794 |bibcode=2008PNAS..105E..15T |doi-access=free}}</ref>

Some evidence indicates that the cave bear used only caves for hibernation and was not inclined to use other locations, such as [[thicket]]s, for this purpose, in contrast to the more versatile [[brown bear]]. This specialized hibernation behavior would have caused a high winter mortality rate for cave bears that failed to find available caves. Therefore, as human populations slowly increased, the cave bear faced a shrinking pool of suitable caves, and slowly faded away to extinction, as both Neanderthals and anatomically modern humans sought out caves as living quarters, depriving the cave bear of vital habitat. This hypothesis is being researched {{as of|lc=y|2010}}. According to the research study, published in the journal ''[[Molecular Biology and Evolution]]'', radiocarbon dating of the fossil remains shows that the cave bear ceased to be abundant in Central Europe around 35,000 years ago.<ref>{{cite web|title=True Causes for Extinction of Cave Bear Revealed: More Human Expansion Than Climate Change|url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/08/100824082230.htm|website=ScienceDaily|publisher=Plataforma SINC|date=25 August 2010}}</ref>

In addition to environmental change, human hunting has also been implicated in the ultimate extinction of the cave bear.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mondanaro |first=Alessandro |last2=Di Febbraro |first2=Mirko |last3=Melchionna |first3=Marina |last4=Carotenuto |first4=Francesco |last5=Castiglione |first5=Silvia |last6=Serio |first6=Carmela |last7=Danisi |first7=Simone |last8=Rook |first8=Lorenzo |last9=Diniz‐Filho |first9=Jose Alexandre F. |last10=Raia |first10=Pasquale |date=9 February 2019 |title=Additive effects of climate change and human hunting explain population decline and extinction in cave bears |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bor.12380 |journal=[[Boreas (journal)|Boreas]] |language=en |volume=48 |issue=3 |pages=605–615 |doi=10.1111/bor.12380 |issn=0300-9483 |access-date=15 March 2024 |via=Wiley Online Library}}</ref> In 2019, the results of a large scale study of 81 bone specimens (resulting in 59 new sequences) and&nbsp;64 previously published complete mitochondrial genomes of cave bear mitochondrial DNA remains found in Switzerland, Poland, France, Spain, Germany, Italy and Serbia, indicated that the cave bear population drastically declined starting around 40,000 years ago at the onset of the [[Aurignacian]], coinciding with the arrival of anatomically modern humans.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-49345392|title=Extinction: Humans played big role in demise of the cave bear|last=Briggs|first=Helen|date=16 August 2019|website=BBC News|access-date=17 August 2019}}</ref><ref name="Gretzinger2019">{{cite journal |last1=Gretzinger |first1=J. |last2=Molak |first2=M. |last3=Reiter |first3=E. |last4=Pfrengle |first4=S. |last5=Urban |first5=C. |last6=Neukamm |first6=J. |last7=Blant |first7=M. |last8=Conard |first8=N. J. |last9=Cupillard |first9=C. |last10=Dimitrijević |first10=V. |last11=Drucker |first11=D. G. |last12=Hofman-Kamińska |first12=E. |last13=Kowalczyk |first13=R. |last14=Krajcarz |first14=M. T. |last15=Krajcarz |first15=M. |date=15 August 2019 |title=Large-scale mitogenomic analysis of the phylogeography of the Late Pleistocene cave bear |journal=[[Scientific Reports]] |volume=9 |issue=1 |page=10700 |bibcode=2019NatSR...910700G |doi=10.1038/s41598-019-47073-z |pmc=6695494 |pmid=31417104 |last16=Münzel |first16=S. C. |last17=Peresani |first17=M. |last18=Romandini |first18=M. |last19=Rufí |first19=I. |last20=Soler |first20=J. |last21=Terlato |first21=G. |last22=Krause |first22=J. |last23=Bocherens |first23=H. |last24=Schuenemann |first24=V. J.}}</ref> It was concluded that human hunting and/or competition played a major role in their decline and ultimate disappearance, and that climate change was not likely to have been the dominant factor.<ref name="Gretzinger2019" /> In a study of Spanish cave bear mtDNA, each cave used by cave bears was found to contain almost exclusively a unique lineage of closely related haplotypes, indicating a homing behaviour for birthing and hibernation. The conclusion of this study is cave bears could not easily colonize new sites when in competition with humans for these resources.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Fortes|first1=Gloria G.|last2=Grandal-d'Anglade|first2=Aurora|last3=Kolbe|first3=Ben|last4=Fernandes|first4=Daniel|last5=Meleg|first5=Ioana N.|last6=García-Vázquez|first6=Ana|last7=Pinto-Llona|first7=Ana C.|last8=Constantin|first8=Silviu|last9=Torres|first9=Trino J. de|date=10 August 2016|title=Ancient DNA reveals differences in behaviour and sociality between brown bears and extinct cave bears|journal=Molecular Ecology|language=en|volume=25|issue=19|pages=4907–4918|doi=10.1111/mec.13800|issn=1365-294X|url=http://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/38241/1/1233179_Barlow.pdf|pmid=27506329|bibcode=2016MolEc..25.4907F |s2cid=18353913}}</ref>

Overhunting by [[human]]s has been dismissed by some as human populations at the time were too small to pose a serious threat to the cave bear's survival. However, the two species may have competed for living space in caves.<ref name="bieder" /><ref name="Withering" /> The [[Chauvet Cave]] contains around 300 "bear hollows" created by cave bear hibernation.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bear hollows {{!}} The Chauvet-Pont d'Arc cave |url=https://archeologie.culture.gouv.fr/chauvet/en/bear-hollows |access-date=6 September 2023 |website=archeologie.culture.gouv.fr}}</ref> Unlike brown bears, cave bears are seldom represented in cave paintings, leading some experts to believe the cave bear may have been avoided by human hunters<ref>''The Walking Larder: Patterns of Domestication, Pastoralism, and Predation'' by Juliet Clutton-Brock, published by Routledge, 1990, {{ISBN|0-04-445900-9}}</ref> or their habitat preferences may not have overlapped. Paleontologist [[Björn Kurtén]] [[hypothesis|hypothesized]] cave bear populations were fragmented and under stress even before the advent of the glaciers.<ref name="bieder" /> Populations living south of the [[Alps]] possibly survived significantly longer.<ref name="extinction" />