Ancient biomolecules suggest a learned foraging strategy in extinct cave bears
Studying the behavioral ecology of long-extinct species is challenging due to the difficulty in measuring the behavioral phenotype and correlating this with genetic and environmental factors. However, a multidisciplinary approach integrating isotope analysis of diet and ancient DNA analysis of genetic relationships offers a potential framework to test the proximate causes of dietary preferences. Our study focuses on Late Pleistocene cave bears from the Romanian Carpathians. Stable isotope analysis of bone collagen reveals substantial lifetime variation in food plant preferences among individuals. We find that bears with similar diets do not cluster according to their population structure, sex, time period, climatic conditions, or location. This disconnect suggests that diet preferences in cave bears are not genetically inherited, and instead that individuals adapted their diets based on foraging experience. This integrative approach opens avenues for understanding Pleistocene animal behavior, leveraging ancient biomolecules synergistically to reveal insights otherwise inaccessible.
Authors
- Elena-Cristina Niţu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8736-336X)
- Angelica Feurdean (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2497-3005)
- Ioana N. Meleg (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0836-4971)
- Marius Vlaicu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6157-0280)
- Adina Boroneanț (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8795-6619)
- Yuichi I. Naito (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8662-7765)
- Michael Hofreiter (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0441-4705)
- Magdalena Năpăruş‐Aljančič (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4150-8375)
- Dorothée G. Drucker (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0854-4371)
- Marin Cârciumaru (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4754-1037)
- Federica Alberti (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1065-7490)
- Hervé Bocherens (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0494-0126)
- Marius Robu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0993-6473)
- Axel Barlow (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5532-9458)
Institutions
- Goethe University Frankfurt (DE)
- Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry (JP)
- University of Bucharest (RO)
- Bangor University (GB)
- University of Potsdam (DE)
- Swedish Museum of Natural History (SE)
- Babeș-Bolyai University (RO)
- Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment (DE)
- Karst Research Institute (SI)
- Emil Racovita Institute of Speleology (RO)
- Centre for Palaeogenetics (SE)
- Kranj School Centre (SI)
- Romanian Academy (RO)
- University of Tübingen (DE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- iScience
- Published
- 2025-11-20
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2025.113920
- Primary Topic
- Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00