The cave bear (Ursus spelaeus) was a species of bear that lived in Europe and Asia during the Pleistocene and became extinct about 24,000 years ago during the Last Glacial Maximum.
Both the word "cave" and the scientific name spelaeus are used because fossils of this species were mostly found in caves. This reflects the views of experts that cave bears may have spent more time in caves than the brown bear, which uses caves only for hibernation.
Follow the journey of giant beasts and the ancestors of humans across the Middle Pleistocene to the Chalcolithic across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, the Americas, and Polynesia.
