Mobility and Hibernation in Ursus Spelaeus from Cueva De Guantes (Santibáñez De La Peña, Palencia, Spain)

Abstract

This study analyzed the isotopic carbon:oxygen ratio in tooth enamel and carbon:nitrogen ratio in bone collagen of cave bear (Ursus spelaeus) remains of cubs and adults from "Galería 1" of Cueva de Guantes (Palencia, Spain). The results obtained from the carbon isotope ratios in enamel and collagen indicated that bears had a slight variation in their food sources and lived in a habitat dominated by C3 plants. Oxygen isotopic values suggest that the water sources consumed were isotopically similar, indicating little displacement and no migration. Finally, 15N values from collagen exhibited a wide range of values in both cubs and adults, probably from urea recycling during hibernation. Taken together, the analyses of carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen isotopic values indicated that cave bears inhabiting Cueva de Guantes may have had a limited ability to move across long distances from the hibernation cave and little variations in the diet, at least for the individuals inhabiting these caves. These factors may have been key for the survival of cave bear populations in the northern Iberian Peninsula during the Late Pleistocene.