Physical Description: Ursus Arctos (or Brown Bear) is among the largest and most powerful of all land carnivores. They range from 91-153cm (3-5 feet) tall on all fours and range from 183-274cm (6-9 feet) while standing upright. The average weight of the Brown Bear depends on gender and its access to a consistent food source. An interior male Brown Bear averages around 247 kg (550lbs), while the female averages around 157 kg (350lbs). However, Brown Bears that live along the coast and have access to a more protein enriched diet can weigh up to 680kgs (1500lbs). The fur is usually dark brown, but can vary from black to light blonde and in very rare cases, white. Some Brown Bears located in the Rocky Mountains have long hairs along the shoulders and back with a frosted white look, which leads to the common name “grizzly bear”.
Systematics & Paleontology: The Brown Bear is classified under the order Carnivora. This order includes the placental mammals; most of which are land animals. Carnivora first appeared about 55 million years ago in the late Paleocene. The Order is split up traditionally into to suborders, the Pinnipedia and the Fissipedia. Although Fissipedia includes all land animals it is paraphyletic and therefor is not considered a valid taxon. Pinnipedia is interesting in the fact that it seems they have evolved from a bear-like land-living ancestor. Brown Bears are a part of the Family Ursida and more specifically the Genus Ursus. Brown Bears are thought to have evolved from the extinct species, Ursus Etruscus, which the oldest fossil record was found to date back 1.8 million years ago. Taxonomy research has shown that the Brown Bear is most closely related to the Polar Bear (Ursus Maritimus). Recent genetic studies ha...
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In Alaska there are 3 main types of bears. They are brown bears, black bears, and polar bears.
The North American Whitetail is typically 3 1/2 to 4 feet tall at the shoulder, and can range from 100 to 220 pounds. The size of the deer depends on the area you find the deer and how much food there is in that area. The males (or bucks) typically have antlers that they shed seasonally. The females (or does) usually do not have antlers, but can on rare occasions. There are some very definite qualities that make it easy to distinguish the white tail from one of its close relatives, like the mule deer. The whitetail is a reddish brown color in the summer and a grayish brown color in the winter. If you ever see a whitetail in the wild, you will quickly see how they got ...
Although they are now rare, grizzly bears inhabit the dense forest of Montana’s Rocky Mountains. Grizzlies grow as tall as eight feet and can weigh up than 1,000 pounds, yet they can move as fast as a horse. There are six national grizzly recovery zones, and three are in Montana. They are Cabinet-Yaak, Northern Continental Divided, and Yellowstone (Av2 books).
U.S. Department of the interior, National Park Service. (2013). Endangered Species. Retrieved from website: http://www.nature.nps.gov/biology/endangeredspecies/index.cfm
The characteristics of the grizzly bear as a top predator also make it highly vulnerable to threats. Although it is an omnivore, because it relies heavily on salmon to make it through the winter, it is vulnerable to anything that impacts on salmon runs. It needs wide-ranging habitat and is slow to reproduce. As such, grizzly bears are considered not just a key species but also an ‘umbrella species’ because the protection of their habitats will result in an ‘umbrella of protection’ for a wide range of other species. The protected areas that have been set aside in the Great Bear Rainforest are not enough to sustain healthy populations of grizzly bear so it requires additional habitat set aside from logging. Trophy hunting of grizzly bears also continues to place their population at
Whitetails usually grow to three and a half foot tall and weigh 50 to 400 pounds depending on whether it is male or female. The deer reaches its biggest size in the north, up to 4 feet tall and 400 pounds, and it's smallest in the south, where they barely weigh more than 50 pounds. During the summer and fall their fur is reddish brown and during the winter and spring it is blue-gray.
Out of an Ice Age emerged one of our most majestic creatures in the world the polar bear. From its brown bear ancestry, the predator evolved to be a master of a harsh and unwelcoming ice kingdom. Intelligent, adaptable and fierce, the polar bear learned how to survive in a place that offers few comforts to any creature. But now that very environment is in flux. And so is the polar bear’s fate (Nature). Polar Bears are very different from other bears. Polar bears are very large bears compared to Black bears. Polar bears weigh anywhere between 330-1700lbs and Black bears weigh anywhere between 150-600lbs. They have strong legs with large, flattened feet with some webbing between their toes that help with walking on ice and swimming. The wide paws prevent sea ice from breaking by distributing weight while walking. Their paws allow them to pull a 600 pound seal out of its breathing hole (Rosing, 20). The webbed feet results in making polar bears, unlike other bear species to be considered as marine mammals along with seals, sea lions, walruses, whales and dolphins (Polar Bear). According to Rosing Polar bears are excellent swimmers and have been known to swim up to six miles an hour and as far as 60 miles at a stretch. The bears paddle with their front feet and steer with their back feet. They often overheat. Sometimes they venture into the waters just to cool off. When a bear climbs on an ice floe, it shakes itself off because it is trying to prevent ice from forming on its fur (22-23). Because of climate change and hunting of polar bears are now becoming an endangered species which is affecting the food chain. We can fix this by going green, banning polar bear hunting and keep creating these new hybrid bears that are mixed with griz...
Grizzly bears live in a variety of environments .All of which includes dense forests, subalpine meadows, open plains and arctic tundra . In the past though, they could be found from Alaska to Mexico, and from California to Ohio. Though Nowadays there are efforts trying to make it so grizzly bears can make a comeback and the wild, and all of their efforts are proving to be working, there are 4 times as many grizzlies in the wild as there were in 1975, at
Biology 108 laboratory manual. 2010. Lab 3, habitat preferences of artemia franciscana, pp. 45-62. University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
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The ears, eye patches, legs, and shoulder band are black. The rest of the body is whitish. Adults are 4 to 6 feet long and may weigh up to 350 pounds, about the same size as the American black bear. However, unlike the black bear, giant pandas do not hibernate and cannot walk on their hind legs. The giant panda has unique front paws-one of the wrist bones is enlarged and elongated and is used like a thumb, enabling the giant panda to grasp stalks of bamboo. They also have very powerful jaws and teeth to crush bamboo.