The species has been described as the most primitive of all
cave bears, and smaller than a
black bear. It has a slender body comparable to brown bears (
Ursus arctos) and noticeably gracile features of the
cranial and
mandibular bones, that to some extent resemble those of
Ursus arctos and
Ursus etruscus. Yet its overall morphological characteristics suggest a kinship with the line of the
speleoid bears. Finally García and Arsuaga have concluded that
Ursus dolinensis "is the ancestor of
Ursus savini and to be very close to the common ancestor of
Ursus arctos". The discovery of a complete
Ursus dolinensis skull during the 2012 excavation campaign and its analysis has according to the campaign's co-directors
Eudald Carbonell, J.M. Bermúdez and J.L. Arsuaga helped to better determine the species'
phylogenetic position. Nuria García described more of the species' specific
morphology in a comparison with the
Untermaßfeld bear at the
18th International Senckenberg Conference in
Weimar in 2004. She confirms the primitive
brown bear-like features and highlights detailed dental traits shared by the two species, such as a "slender horizontal
ramus with straight vertical profile; all teeth sides converge towards the
midline". The fourth lower
premolars are massive and elliptical shaped with a prominent
protoconid. The first lower molars are slender, the second lower molars are rectangular shaped and without medial constrictions. The fourth upper premolars are triangular shaped with simple high pointed
cusps. The first upper molars are quadrangular to rectangular-shaped without central constriction and finally, the second upper molars are large without torsion. == Notes ==