Ursus minimus

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Ursus minimus
Temporal range: Pliocene–Pleistocene
Ursus minimus 1.JPG
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Ursidae
Subfamily: Ursinae
Genus: Ursus
Species:
U. minimus
Binomial name
Ursus minimus
Devèze & Bouillet, 1827
Synonyms
  • Ursus arvernensisCroizet & Jobert, 1828
  • Helarctos arvernensis(Croizet & Jobert, 1828) sensu Depéret, 1890
  • Helarctos arvernensis pyrenaicusDepéret, 1892
  • Ursus wenzensis Stach, 1953

Ursus minimus (the Auvergne bear) is an extinct species of bear, endemic to Europe during the Pliocene and Pleistocene, living from 5.3 to 1.8 Mya, existing for about 3.5 million years.

Contents

U. minimus appears to have given rise to Ursus etruscus . [1] The range of U. minimus was continental Europe, as far east as the Black Sea in Russia and as far south as Italy.

The skeleton of U. minimus was very similar to that of the larger Asian black bear. With the exception of the age of the bones, it is often difficult to distinguish the remains of U. minimus from those of modern Asian black bears. [2]

Distribution

Fossils of U. minimus are known from France, Slovakia, [3] Hungary, Ukraine, Italy, Bulgaria, [4] Georgia, [5] and Russia.

Fossil sites

Sites and specimen ages:

References

  1. Wagner, J. (2010). "Pliocene to early Middle Pleistocene ursine bears in Europe: a taxonomic overview". Journal of the National Museum (Prague), Natural History Series. 179 (20): 197–215.
  2. Search for the Golden Moon Bear: Science and Adventure in Pursuit of a New Species by Sy Montgomery published by Chelsea Green Publishing, 2009
  3. Sabol, M.; Holec, P.; Wagner, J. (12 September 2008). "Late Pliocene carnivores from Včeláre 2 (Southeastern Slovakia)". Paleontological Journal . 42 (5): 531–543. doi:10.1134/S0031030108050092. ISSN   0031-0301 . Retrieved 6 September 2025 via Springer Nature Link.
  4. Boev, Zlatozar (3 April 2023). "Quaternary vertebrate fauna of Bulgaria – composition, chronology and impoverishment" (PDF). Geologica Balcanica. 52 (1): 21–48. doi:10.52321/GeolBalc.52.1.21 . Retrieved 6 September 2025 via ResearchGate.
  5. Bukhsianidze, M.; Koiava, K. (2018). "Synopsis of the terrestrial vertebrate faunas from the Middle Kura Basin (Eastern Georgia and Western Azerbaijan, South Caucasus)". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica . 63 (3). doi:10.4202/app.00499.201. ISSN   0567-7920 . Retrieved 13 September 2025 via Acta Palaeontologica Polonica.
  6. Paleobiology Database: Meleto collection