Abstract
Isotopic analyses of fossil bones of the extinct European cave bear indicate that this animal was a hibernator with the same unusual metabolic processes as some modern bear species. This finding provides useful biological and archaeological information on an extinct species, and the methods themselves may prove generally useful in studies of the metabolisms of modern bears, other hibernators, and perhaps of starving animals.
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Received: 6 October 1997 / Accepted: 31 March 1998
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Nelson, D., Angerbjörn, A., Lidén, K. et al. Stable isotopes and the metabolism of the European cave bear. Oecologia 116, 177–181 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/s004420050577
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s004420050577