Bones (Mammalia, Carnivora, Ursidae) of the Iberian Pleistocene (U. deningeri Von Reichenau, U. spelaeus Rosenmuller-Heinroth, U. arctos Linneo): III. Anatomical and metrical study of thoracic, carpic and metacarpic members

Deals with a comparative morphological and metrical analysis of toracic membre, carpus and metacarpus bones of U. deningeri, U. spelaeus and U. arctos. Measurements taken on long bones revealed sex dimorphism, not so clearly present at carpus and metacarpus bones. There is a clear morphological separation between the different species. The cave bear had heavily built bones and their general arrangement indicates that it was an excellent digger but a poor runner and climber. The size augmentation was accompanied by an enlargement of the carpus articular surfaces. In the brown bear many of the morphological features of its remote ancestor, U. etruscus, remain. U. deningeri has intermediate characteristics. Metrical analysis based upon histograms and semilogarithmic and bivariate plots reveals good metrical separation between species. Measurement tables are added. -English summary