Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41497401›Full record

ArticleiScience2025

Ancient biomolecules suggest a learned foraging strategy in extinct cave bears.

Ioana N Meleg, Federica Alberti, Dorothée G Drucker, Magdalena Năpăruș-Aljančič, Angelica Feurdean, Marius Robu, Marius Vlaicu, Yuichi I Naito, Adina Boroneanț, Marin Cârciumaru and 4 more

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Article in iScience, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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0citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

14 authors.

Ioana N MelegEmil G. Racoviță Institute, Babeş-Bolyai University, Clinicilor 5-7, 400006 Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
Federica AlbertiInstitute for Biochemistry and Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Potsdam, Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 24-25, OT Golm, 14476 Potsdam, Germany.
Dorothée G DruckerSenckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment (S-HEP) at the University of Tübingen, Hölderlinstraße 12, 72074 Tübingen, Germany.
Magdalena Năpăruș-AljančičKarst Research Institute ZRC SAZU, Titov trg 2, 6230 Postojna, Slovenia.
Angelica FeurdeanEmil G. Racoviță Institute, Babeş-Bolyai University, Clinicilor 5-7, 400006 Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
Marius Robu"Emil Racoviță" Institute of Speleology, Romanian Academy, Calea 13 Septembrie, nr. 13, Sector 5, 050711 Bucharest, Romania.
Marius Vlaicu"Emil Racoviță" Institute of Speleology, Romanian Academy, Calea 13 Septembrie, nr. 13, Sector 5, 050711 Bucharest, Romania.
Yuichi I NaitoDepartment of Geosciences, Biogeology, University of Tübingen, Hölderlinstraße 12, 72074 Tübingen, Germany.
Adina Boroneanț"Vasile Pârvan" Institute of Archaeology, Romanian Academy, 11 Henri Coandă St, Bucharest, Romania.
Marin Cârciumaru"Princely Court" National Museum Târgovişte, Museum of Human Evolution and Technology in Palaeolithic, 7 Justiţiei Street, 130017 Târgovişte, Dâmboviţa County, Romania.
Elena C Nițu"Princely Court" National Museum Târgovişte, Museum of Human Evolution and Technology in Palaeolithic, 7 Justiţiei Street, 130017 Târgovişte, Dâmboviţa County, Romania.
Michael HofreiterInstitute for Biochemistry and Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Potsdam, Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 24-25, OT Golm, 14476 Potsdam, Germany.
Hervé BocherensSenckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment (S-HEP) at the University of Tübingen, Hölderlinstraße 12, 72074 Tübingen, Germany.
Axel BarlowSchool of Environmental and Natural Sciences, Bangor University, Bangor, LL57 2DG, UK.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

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.

Indexed as

biochemistryecological biochemistryevolutionary biologypaleobiology

Identifiers

PMID41497401
PMCPMC12767184

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.