Cave bears from Southern Germany: Sex ratios and age structure. A contribution towards a better understanding of the paleobiology of Ursus spelaeus
Cave bears from Southern Germany: Sex ratios and age structure. A contribution towards a better understanding of the paleobiology of Ursus spelaeus
Sex ratios of cave bears (Ursus spelaeus and U. deningeri) are known to vary greatly between sites. A number of explanations have been proposed to account for this variability, involving for example cave size, altitude, and the seasonality of food availability. This contribution presents demographic data from three sites in southern Germany which allow the rejection of these models; the factor(s) behind the variability in sex ratios is (are) still unknown. The data also suggest that, contrary to the case in living brown bears (U. arctos), males in cave bears may have reached a very old age more frequently than females.
Ageing, Cave bear, Demography, Sex ratios, Sexual dimorphism
165-182
Weinstock, Jaco
edcdb255-f6d0-4a66-8c47-28b70d79896e
2000
Weinstock, Jaco
edcdb255-f6d0-4a66-8c47-28b70d79896e
Weinstock, Jaco
(2000)
Cave bears from Southern Germany: Sex ratios and age structure. A contribution towards a better understanding of the paleobiology of Ursus spelaeus.
Archaeofauna, 9, .
Abstract
Sex ratios of cave bears (Ursus spelaeus and U. deningeri) are known to vary greatly between sites. A number of explanations have been proposed to account for this variability, involving for example cave size, altitude, and the seasonality of food availability. This contribution presents demographic data from three sites in southern Germany which allow the rejection of these models; the factor(s) behind the variability in sex ratios is (are) still unknown. The data also suggest that, contrary to the case in living brown bears (U. arctos), males in cave bears may have reached a very old age more frequently than females.
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Published date: 2000
Keywords:
Ageing, Cave bear, Demography, Sex ratios, Sexual dimorphism
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 455305
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/455305
ISSN: 1132-6891
PURE UUID: 3b07ce23-59c6-48ee-b7cf-828b4c4ad4ab
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Date deposited: 16 Mar 2022 18:05
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 15:28
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