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  • Hair imprints in Pleistocen...
    Turk, Janez; Čretnik, Janko; Turk, Matija; Mladenovič, Ana

    Facies, 01/2015, Volume: 61, Issue: 1
    Journal Article

    Detailed studies of cave sediments in the Divje babe I cave, in western Slovenia, have revealed both fossil hairs and the imprints of such hairs present within phosphate aggregates in the clastic sediments. These aggregates consist of fine rock and bone fragments, as well as hairs cemented by phosphate precipitated from pore water. The hairs and their imprints were discovered by means of scanning electron microscopy and are likely to have belonged to cave bears, which were the most frequent inhabitants of this cave. From X-ray micro-computed tomography showing the spatial distribution of the hair imprints, and their number, it appears that the hairs did not belong to one particular animal which died at the location where the samples were collected, rather the hairs probably accumulated on the floor of the cave not only from cadavers, but also because hairs were shed during the hibernation of bears and their visits to the cave.