Ursus dolinensis: a new species of Early Pleistocene ursid from Trinchera Dolina, Atapuerca (Spain)
Abstract
Bear remains coming from the lowermost levels of the Trinchera Dolina (TD) site at Sierra de Atapuerca (Spain) are here described as belonging to a new species. The TD bear presents a combination of primitive and derived characters that distinguishes it from all other Pleistocene bears. The slender morphology of the mandible is Ursus arctos and Ursus etruscus-like; however, it also shows some derived characters that are on the line of the speloid bears. Based on these observations, we consider this species to be the ancestor of U. savini and to be very close to the common ancestor of Ursus arctos. The chronology of the studied remains is placed between 0.9 and 0.78 Ma.
- Publication:
-
Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences - Series IIA - Earth and Planetary Science
- Pub Date:
- June 2001
- DOI:
- 10.1016/S1251-8050(01)01588-9
- Bibcode:
- 2001CRASE.332..717G