A Review of the New for 2017 Papo Cave Bear Model

The Papo Cave Bear model is now in stock at Everything Dinosaur.  This eagerly anticipated Papo replica arrived at our warehouse today and team members at Everything Dinosaur have been busy checking inventory and putting models to one side for those customers who requested that we reserve one for them.  It really is a splendid model and it is great to see the French manufacturer extend their model range by including a prehistoric mammal, especially since the recent retirement of their popular Woolly Rhino (Coelodonta) figure.

The Papo Cave Bear Model is Now in Stock at Everything Dinosaur

The new for 2017 Papo Cave Bear model.

Lateral view of the Papo Cave Bear model. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Cave Bear (Ursus spelaeus)

Cave bears shared a common ancestor with the modern Brown bear (Ursus arctus) and they evolved around 300,000 years ago and survived until the late Middle Palaeolithic of the Stone Age, (around 40,000 years ago).  The last Cave bears existed in the Caucasus mountain range, but these large bears once roamed an area of Europe from southern Russian to southern England.  Everything Dinosaur is not aware of Cave bear fossils having been found in Ireland, although the Brown bear is known to have existed in Ireland.

A View of the Beautifully Sculpted Snout and Skull of the Papo Cave Bear

Papo Cave Bear replica.

A anterior view of the Papo Cave Bear model.  Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

The Papo Cave Bear Model

The picture above shows a close-up view of the Papo Cave Bear model.  Cave bears can be distinguished from modern Brown bears as they tended to be larger and more powerfully built.  The skull has a distinctive slope down to the bridge of the long muzzle, this feature can be clearly made out in the excellent Papo replica.  The large canines are prominent and each of the incisors at the front of the jaws have been individually painted, the paint work on the model is really good and we like the darker colouration along the back, giving the impression of a thicker coat on this part of the animal’s body.

The limb bones of Cave bears were of slightly different proportions when compared to their modern cousins.  The limbs on the Papo figure give an impression of huge power and strength, the Cave bear was a formidable animal best avoided by people, recent studies have suggested that there was very little ecological interaction between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens and Cave bears, they may have used the same rock shelters and caves but at different times in history.  A number of carved artefacts and paintings have led some anthropologists to suggest that these large mammals were revered by our ancestors.

A Close-up View of the Large, Powerful Paws of the Papo Cave Bear Figure

The huge paws of the Papo Cave Bear model.

The large paws of the Papo Cave Bear model.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

To view the new for 2017 Papo Cave Bear model and the rest of the Papo prehistoric animal range available from Everything Dinosaur: Papo Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animal Models.

Cave Bear and Other Prehistoric Animal Models

Measuring a fraction under fourteen centimetres in length and standing some eight and half centimetres high at those muscular shoulders, this is an excellent Pleistocene-aged mammal model, one that works well in scale with several Woolly Mammoth replicas including the Papo Woolly Mammoth models as well as the CollectA Neanderthal figures.

The Papo Cave Bear Model (New for 2017)

The Papo Cave Bear Model.

A powerful Cave Bear model from Papo.

The remaining new for 2017 Papo models, the Sabre-toothed cat and the Dimorphodon replica should be available next month (September 2017).

Visit the award-winning Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur.

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