Extinctions of Late Ice Age Cave Bears as a Result of Climate/Habitat Change and Large Carnivore Lion/Hyena/Wolf Predation Stress in Europe
Figure 14
(a) Comparison of three main bone assemblage types from the mammoth steppe to those from mountainous Boreal forest Ice Age palaeoenvironments composed in northern and southern Germany. All herein studied Upper Franconian larger caves (Figure 1) seem to contain only the “Boreal Forest Fauna” bone assemblage such as analysed well for the Zoolithen and Sophie’s Caves. Carnivores adapted to specialize in feeding on cave bears in response to the absence of large mammoth steppe game fauna such as mammoths, rhinos, bison, and horses. (b) Mortality rates for cave bears, lions, and hyenas in the Zoolithen Cave as evidence of their use of the cave as a dwelling place or for other purposes only.
