i 3 4 BRITISH MAMMALS 



markedly in size, the grizzly bear being in general a much bigger 

 animal than the brown bear. Its coloration also varies consider- 

 ably, and there are slight differences in the relative size of the 

 tail. Remains of the bear found in Ireland seem to resemble 

 more nearly the grizzly bear of North America than the ordinary 

 brown bear of Europe, and traces of this grizzly bear type are 

 also found in the Pleistocene and recent deposits of England. 



Ursus spel<eus. THE CAVE BEAR 



This creature was in some respects the culmination of the 

 bears, a splendid and awful development of a predatory Carni- 

 vore. It was, perhaps, preceded in development by Ursus prisons. 

 As a temporary king of destroying animals it probably succeeded 

 the sabre-toothed " tigers," and .exceeded the lion in size and 

 strength, besides being more at home in north temperate regions 

 where the lion seldom penetrated. It was nearly twice the size of 

 the brown bear, and exceeded the grizzly bear by about a third. 

 It differs from the other bears in the total loss in the adult animal 

 of all the first three premolar teeth in each jaw, also by the high 

 forehead, the shorter nose, and possibly the higher and more 

 horizontal opening of the nostrils. The upper canines were 

 enormous, but the lower canines not proportionately quite so 

 large as in the brown bear. The under jaw is provided with 

 a strong chin for the attachment of powerful muscles, and is 

 further marked with three deep cavities in the bone on either 

 side. The presence of its remains in absolutely extraordinary 

 quantities in all the caves of England, France, Germany, Belgium, 

 Poland, Italy, Algeria, the Balkan Peninsula, and South Russia 

 would seem to show that this enormous bear used caverns as its 

 home and lair, dragging its prey to be devoured in these retreats, 

 where, its hunger satisfied, it abandoned the remains to spotted 

 hyaenas of great size. In England its existence dates from the 

 end of the Pliocene Epoch. It became extremely abundant 

 during the Pleistocene and the Prehistoric age of man. It was 

 certainly contemporaneous with Palaeolithic man in these islands, 

 and may even have lingered down to the Neolithic age. So far 



