Cave Bear

prehistoric · extinct · Europe · giant bears

Huge Hibernators. Cave bears were much larger than modern grizzly bears, weighing up to 2,200 pounds. They spent winters sleeping in caves across Europe and Asia, which is how scientists found so many of their bones.

Peak Ice Age Dwellers. These bears lived during the Pleistocene epoch when ice ages created harsh, cold climates. They thrived in this freezing world but couldn't survive the extreme conditions of the Last Glacial Maximum about 24,000 years ago.

Plant Eating Bears. Unlike modern bears that hunt meat, cave bears ate mostly plants, nuts, and roots. Their flat molars were perfect for crushing vegetation rather than tearing meat.

Fossil Gold Mine. Cave bear bones are found so abundantly in European caves that they give scientists amazing clues about how these animals lived and died. Some caves contain thousands of bones stacked together from thousands of years of hibernation.