Cave bear is an extinct type of bear that once lived in Europe and western Asia. Cave bears were roughly the same size as the largest modern grizzly bears. Adult males measured about 9 feet (2.7 meters) tall standing upright, while females were smaller. Cave bear skeletons were exceptionally heavy, with thick, stout bones. Cave bears had massive heads and powerful front limbs armed with short, strong claws.
Cave bears lived in cold and temperate climates. They often hibernated in the winter in caves. They seem to have eaten more plants than animals, using their molars (back teeth) to crush tough plant matter, such as grasses, nuts, and roots. Many cave bears died during hibernation, due to illness, injury, old age, or not building up enough fat during the summer. For these reasons, their bones are often found in caves. Scientists have found thousands of cave bear bones in some caves.
Both cave bears and prehistoric people used caves for shelter. Prehistoric people painted images of cave bears as well as other animals on the walls of some caves. Some scientists have proposed that prehistoric people made special arrangements of cave bear bones as part of an early form of cult worship. However, most scientists now doubt that such a religion ever existed. These scientists believe that the bones were unintentionally arranged by cave bears digging their nestlike beds.
Cave bears went into decline at the end of the last ice age. They were gone from most areas by about 20,000 years ago and probably completely extinct by 10,000 years ago.
