Early human ‘squatters’ drove cave bears to extinction

By Howard Falcon-Lang Science reporter, BBC News
27 August 2010 Last updated at 06:24 ET Ice Age bears may have been wiped out when humans began to take over their caves, scientists claim. A new DNA study shows that cave bear populations started to decline around 50,000 years ago, coincident with the time that human numbers increased. Caves were essential for these Ice Age bears to hibernate during the winter months. The arrival of human “squatters” who occupied caves made the bears homeless, leading to their untimely extinction. The findings are published in the journal Molecular Biology and Evolution by a team led by Dr Mathias Stiller of the Max Planck Institute, Germany. …

Early human ‘squatters’ drove cave bears to extinction