 | This taxon may be invalid (Unclear geological age and skull similarity with modern brown bear). (April 2022) |
| Ursus arctos priscus Temporal range:
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|---|---|
_(fig._2).png)
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| Illustration of a steppe brown bear battling a cave lion | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Family: | Ursidae |
| Genus: | Ursus |
| Species: | |
| Subspecies: | †U. a. priscus
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| Trinomial name | |
| †Ursus arctos priscus | |
The steppe brown bear (Ursus arctos priscus) is a disputed extinct subspecies of brown bear that lived in Eurasia during either the Pleistocene or the early Holocene epochs, but its geological age is uncertain.[1] Fossils of the bear have been found in various caves in Slovakia, particularly those of Vazec, Vyvieranie, Lisková, Kupcovie Izbicka, and Okno.[2] It is argued that the subspecies should be rendered invalid, as its geological age is unclear and "its skull is identical to modern U. arctos."[3][1]
- ^ a b Villalba de Alvarado, M., Collado Giraldo, H., Arsuaga, J. L., Bello Rodrigo, J. R., Heteren, A. H., & Gómez‐Olivencia, A. (2021). Looking for the earliest evidence of Ursus arctos LINNAEUS, 1758 in the Iberian Peninsula: the Middle Pleistocene site of Postes cave. Boreas, 51(1), 159–184. https://doi.org/10.1111/bor.12537
- ^ Sabol, M. (2001), Fossil Brown Bears of Slovakia (Los osos pardos fósiles de Eslovaquia) (PDF), vol. 26, Bratislava: Cadernos Lab. Xeolóxico de Laxe Coruña, pp. 311–316, ISSN 0213-4497
- ^ Pacher, M. (2007). The type specimen of Ursus priscus Goldfuss, 1810 and the uncertain status of Late Pleistocene brown bears. Neues Jahrbuch f€ur Geologie und Pal€aontologie, Abhandlungen 245, 331–339.