Ursus minimus
Skull Fragment of Ursus minimus in side and bottom view
- Europe
Ursus minimus is an extinct bear style, which was found in the age of the Pliocene in continental Europe, the Black Sea is regarded as eastern limit of their range. Ursus minimus be considered the common ancestor of all extant Ursus species.
- 4.1 Literature
- 4.2 Notes and references
Physique
The skull of Ursus minimus measure around 25 cm, which he was the smallest member of its genus and about the size of a sun bear (Ursus malayanus ) reached. His physique was similar to the Asian (U. thibetanus ) and American black bears (U. americanus). As early Ursus he lacked the highly trained metatarsal and in the jaw morphology he resembled primitive bear with relatively high Trigoniden the fangs as those found in the genus Ursavus, but not at later Ursus species.
Distribution and habitat
Ursus minimus inhabited Europe in the early Pliocene to Pleistocene dawning. His physique suggests that it was a waldbewohnende kind.
Taxonomy and evolution
Nomenclature and Artabgrenzung
Ursus minimus is one of the earliest forms of Ursus. Between Lumpern and splinters exists with respect to U. minimus disagreement about what should and fossils forms include the type. As the earliest description, however, Ursus minimus has priority over possibly synonymous name; the validity of the type itself is not questioned among paleontologists.
For the oldest fossils that have been found by Ursus, exist side by U. minimus, the designations U. boeckhi ( Schlosser, 1899; holotype from the Romanian Baroth - Köpecz ) and U. ruscinensis and U. avernicus pyrenaicus ( Déperet, 1890 and 1892, holotype from the French Perpignan ). Of these names, only U. boeckhi permission is granted, as a rule usually. Since U. minimus a strong variability shows younger fossils tend to be smaller than older and it is also unlikely that two bears the same size inhabit a common habitat, the research tends Ursus or all forms from the early Pleistocene as U. minimus summarize. than Chronosubspezies U. minimus boeckhi.
System
Precursor of the first Ursus species were probably bear the genus Ursavus from the Miocene, its origin and exact identity are not known. From Ursus minimus is in the middle Pliocene, first the sloth bear (Ursus ursinus ) produced before emerge at the turn from the middle to late Pliocene two clades: one hand the smaller black bears - American black bear (U. americanus), Asiatic Black Bear (U. thibetanus ) and sun bear (U. malayanus ) - on the other hand, the larger brown and cave bears with brown bear (U. arctos), polar bear (U. maritimus ) and the Höhlenbärformen of U. etruscus to U. spelaeus.