Three-dimensional dental topography and feeding ecology in the extinct cave bear
The cave bear ( Ursus spelaeus s.l .) was an iconic extinct bear that inhabited the Pleistocene of Eurasia. The cause of extinction of this species is unclear and to identify the actual factors, it is crucial to understand its feeding preferences. Here, we quantified the shape descriptor metrics in...
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crroyalsociety:10.1098/rsbl.2020.0792 2024-09-15T18:40:13+00:00 Three-dimensional dental topography and feeding ecology in the extinct cave bear Pérez-Ramos, Alejandro Romero, Alejandro Rodriguez, Ernesto Figueirido, Borja Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Junta de Andalucía 2020 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2020.0792 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsbl.2020.0792 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rsbl.2020.0792 en eng The Royal Society https://royalsociety.org/-/media/journals/author/Licence-to-Publish-20062019-final.pdf https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ Biology Letters volume 16, issue 12, page 20200792 ISSN 1744-9561 1744-957X journal-article 2020 crroyalsociety https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2020.0792 2024-08-12T04:27:45Z The cave bear ( Ursus spelaeus s.l .) was an iconic extinct bear that inhabited the Pleistocene of Eurasia. The cause of extinction of this species is unclear and to identify the actual factors, it is crucial to understand its feeding preferences. Here, we quantified the shape descriptor metrics in three-dimensional (3D) models of the upper teeth (P 4 –M 2 ) of the cave bear to make inferences about its controversial feeding behaviour. We used comparative samples, including representatives of all living bear species with known diets, as a template. Our topographic analyses show that the complexity of upper tooth rows in living bears is more clearly associated with the mechanical properties of the items consumed than with the type of food. Cave bears exhibit intermediate values on topographic metrics compared with the bamboo-feeder giant panda ( Ailuropoda melanoleuca ) and specialists in hard mast consumption ( Ursus arctos and Ursus thibetanus ). The crown topography of cave bear upper teeth suggests that they could chew on tough vegetal resources of low quality with high efficiency, a characteristic that no living bear currently displays. Our results align with a climate-driven hypothesis to explain the extinction of cave bear populations during the Late Pleistocene. Article in Journal/Newspaper Ursus arctos The Royal Society Biology Letters 16 12 20200792 |
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The Royal Society |
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English |
description |
The cave bear ( Ursus spelaeus s.l .) was an iconic extinct bear that inhabited the Pleistocene of Eurasia. The cause of extinction of this species is unclear and to identify the actual factors, it is crucial to understand its feeding preferences. Here, we quantified the shape descriptor metrics in three-dimensional (3D) models of the upper teeth (P 4 –M 2 ) of the cave bear to make inferences about its controversial feeding behaviour. We used comparative samples, including representatives of all living bear species with known diets, as a template. Our topographic analyses show that the complexity of upper tooth rows in living bears is more clearly associated with the mechanical properties of the items consumed than with the type of food. Cave bears exhibit intermediate values on topographic metrics compared with the bamboo-feeder giant panda ( Ailuropoda melanoleuca ) and specialists in hard mast consumption ( Ursus arctos and Ursus thibetanus ). The crown topography of cave bear upper teeth suggests that they could chew on tough vegetal resources of low quality with high efficiency, a characteristic that no living bear currently displays. Our results align with a climate-driven hypothesis to explain the extinction of cave bear populations during the Late Pleistocene. |
author2 |
Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Junta de Andalucía |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Pérez-Ramos, Alejandro Romero, Alejandro Rodriguez, Ernesto Figueirido, Borja |
spellingShingle |
Pérez-Ramos, Alejandro Romero, Alejandro Rodriguez, Ernesto Figueirido, Borja Three-dimensional dental topography and feeding ecology in the extinct cave bear |
author_facet |
Pérez-Ramos, Alejandro Romero, Alejandro Rodriguez, Ernesto Figueirido, Borja |
author_sort |
Pérez-Ramos, Alejandro |
title |
Three-dimensional dental topography and feeding ecology in the extinct cave bear |
title_short |
Three-dimensional dental topography and feeding ecology in the extinct cave bear |
title_full |
Three-dimensional dental topography and feeding ecology in the extinct cave bear |
title_fullStr |
Three-dimensional dental topography and feeding ecology in the extinct cave bear |
title_full_unstemmed |
Three-dimensional dental topography and feeding ecology in the extinct cave bear |
title_sort |
three-dimensional dental topography and feeding ecology in the extinct cave bear |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2020.0792 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsbl.2020.0792 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rsbl.2020.0792 |
genre |
Ursus arctos |
genre_facet |
Ursus arctos |
op_source |
Biology Letters volume 16, issue 12, page 20200792 ISSN 1744-9561 1744-957X |
op_rights |
https://royalsociety.org/-/media/journals/author/Licence-to-Publish-20062019-final.pdf https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2020.0792 |
container_title |
Biology Letters |
container_volume |
16 |
container_issue |
12 |
container_start_page |
20200792 |
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1810484532353171456 |