Late Pleistocene Crocuta crocuta spelaea in Bulgaria: distribution and history of research (Carnivora: Hyaenidae) [Късноплейстоценската западна пещерна хиена (Crocuta crocuta spelaea) в България: разпространение и история на изследванията (Carnivora: Hyaenidae)]

Pages	19-29
DOI	10.37520/lynx.2020.002
Keywords	Cave hyena, large carnivores, Quaternary mammals, history of wildlife, Balkans
Type of Article	Peer-reviewed
Citation	BOEV, Zlatozar. Late Pleistocene Crocuta crocuta spelaea in Bulgaria: distribution and history of research (Carnivora: Hyaenidae) [Късноплейстоценската западна пещерна хиена (Crocuta crocuta spelaea) в България: разпространение и история на изследванията (Carnivora: Hyaenidae)]. Lynx, new series. Prague: National Museum, 2020, 51(1), 19-29. DOI: https://doi.org/10.37520/lynx.2020.002. ISSN 0024-7774 (print), 1804-6460 (online). Also available from: https://www.nm.cz/en/periodicals/lns/51-1/late-pleistocene-crocuta-crocuta-spelaea-in-bulgaria-distribution-and-history-of-research-carnivora-hyaenidae-ksnoplejstocenskata-zapadna-pescerna-hiena-crocuta-crocuta-spelaea-v-blgarija-razprostranenie-i-istorija-na-izsledvanijata-carnivora-hyaenidae

Lynx, new series | 2020/51/1

The paper summarizes all scattered data from the last 116 years on the distribution of the Late Pleistocene cave hyena in Bulgaria, a part of them unpublished. Data from 24 fossil sites (Middle Pleistocene – Late Pleistocene) in the country are presented. The fossil record in Bulgaria proves the wide distribution of the species in the karst areas of the low-mountain regions of the country. Its Pleistocene localities are concentrated in the Predbalkan Mts. (83%), Strandja Mts. (8%), Western Rhodopes Mts. (4%) and southern Dobruja Plain (4%). They are situated at the altitudes between 136 and 1250 m a.s.l., about 75% of them at 136–400 m a. s. l. All (except one) Bulgarian sites represent former human dwellings, which indicates competition between man and this carnivore for the cave spaces.

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