Based on the jawbone's shape, scientists were confident that it belonged to an adult male polar bear. The rock layers in which it was embedded, along with other dating techniques, suggest that it is 110,000 to 130,000 years old — older than any other known polar bear fossils. This date alone is interesting because previous estimates for the origin of polar bears have ranged from 70,000 to more than a million years ago. But, based on the new fossil's age, we can infer that the polar bear lineage must be more than 110,000 years old. The anatomy and rocks in which the jawbone was preserved provided useful information — but the fossil had an even more powerful line of evidence: DNA.
DNA breaks down over time, but new techniques allow scientists
The Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus) is a bear native largely within the Arctic Circle encircling the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and land masses. Although it is closely related to the Brown Bear, it has evolved to occupy a narrower ecological forte, with many body characteristics adapted for cold temperatures, for moving across snow, ice, and open water, and for hunting the seals which make up most of its diet. Though there are many theories surrounding evolution, the two stand outstanding hypotheses applying to the modification from Brown Bear to Polar Bear are Lamarck’s theory of Use and Disuse, and Darwin’s theory of Natural Selection. The intention of this paper is to compare these thesis and determine the most appropriate in
The bear have evolved along time ago and now there is only eight species existing. They evolved from early canids during the late Oligocene and early Miocene, about 25 million years ago. The earliest ancestors where the Dormaalocyon Latouri. An intermediate ancestor was the short faced bear, very similar to the modern day bear. It lived through the pleistocene period. It grew to thirteen feet long and was a herbivore. The ancestors to the modern day bears lived in the same climate and ate the same things. The modern bear contrast from the ancestor because the ancestor was more skinny and was smaller, and it was more cat like. The eight species of bear that still exist. They are the Polar bear, Brown bear, American black bear, Asian
The polar bear, the largest land carnivore in North America, one of the largest animals in the world and a favorite at zoos worldwide, has, over the years, adapted to its harsh Arctic environment. The appropriately named ‘ursus maritimum’ or sea bear usually lives between 15 and 18 years in the wild and spends most of its life on ice. It is the most recent of the eight bear species. The first polar bear was a brown bear subspecies, with brown bear dimensions and brown bear teeth. The polar bear evolution was rapid due to the small population and extreme pressure to survive. Even today, the polar bear continues to evolve to better adapt to the harsh realities of Arctic life.
What these skeptics have done, in effect, is create a null hypothesis. And there’s a straightforward way to set about disproving it. Scientists would need to find more DNA from these mysterious bears. If other regions of the DNA also matched ancient polar bears, then scientists could reject the null
the last thirty years three quarters of floating ice cover has been lost, which has greatly affected the Polar Bears. This has been due to our use of fossil fuels. This photograph was captured in order to send the message that Polar Bears are losing their homes on the rapidly melting ice caps due to global warming and change has to be done.
The latest survey conducted by the US Forest Service shows that as many as 97% of the animals of the Arctic could be affected as a result of the observed warming. The climate change may occur faster in the Arctic region. Scientists have developed computer models to predict changes in the environment and their impact on the 162 species of birds and 39 species of mammals in the Arctic.
The polar bear (Ursus maritimus) is the biggest terrestrial mammal in the Arctic. He is also considered as an animal with a circumpolar or broad distribution in polar regions. The conservation status of bear remains problematic, according to the global warming that is happening now. If further managements are not implanted, polar bear population`s will disappear in the future. The polar bears live in the Arctic, an ocean surrounded by land. The Arctic has a very low species diversity and polar bears the first animal into the food chain. Also, the Arctic has cold winters which are not suitable for some aquatic species. With global warming and interglacial period, the ice and snow began to recede about 20.000 years ago. The rate of ice loss has
Polar bears are one of so many animals that are going extinct . The polar bear is a bear who is a carnivorous whose native range lives in the Arctic Circle encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. The polar bear is going extinct for many reasons but the main reasons is that there is ongoing and potential loss of their sea ice habitat because of climate change.According to WWF “Polar bears were listed as a threatened species in the US under the Endangered Species act in May 2008. The survival and the protection of the polar bear habitat are urgent issues.”
In the scientific article Feeding and reproductive ecology of two polar bear populations the researchers focused on the study of two polar bear populations that being the Chukchi Sea and the Beaufort Sea. Primarily researchers investigated the effects of ice loss in these areas with a focus finding out whether size, condition, and reproductive indices are being affected by climate changes leading to sea ice loss. This study is an important area of research because of the vast decline in sea ice, leading to Polar bear deaths. Polar bears depend on sea ice because it’s a way for them to hunt for prey, that being seals. In order to examine polar bear conditions, polar bears were located from a helicopter and immobilized with a dart containing
How do organisms, such as a polar bear or a cactus, survive in their environment? Each organism has certain adaptations that help them survive. What are adaptations? Adaptations are characteristics that help an organism survive in their environment. For example, a cactus has spines that reduce water loss and protects the cactus from predators. How about polar bears? How do they adapt to their environment?
usually polar bears can live in Russia united states Canada Alaska Greenland and Norway. Polar bears eat beluga whales bowhead whales and walrus carcasses. the polar bears most distinctive future is there fur is actually clear not white. they also have a conversation status which is vurnable. the polar bears skin is actually black unlike their fur.
Lately scientists have remarked that despite polar bears’ uncanny ability to survive and thrive in freezing cold water, this unfortunately doesn’t help them in other environmental challenges. When the food supply (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctic_fur_seal) for polar bears decreases, they appear to be incapable of slowing down their metabolism to adapt to this changing environment. Merav Ben David, a co-author and part of a team of University of Wyoming researchers whose field in the Arctic (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctic_Ocean) was headquarters for the new report, explicated that “many colleagues, even some on our own research team, doubted whether the study was possible, until we actually did it.”
Polar bears may appear white, but their fur is clear. That's why sometimes Polar bears are blue or purple. This means the water is unhealthy. Polar bears are huge, they are even at the top of the food chain. Polar bears like to eat seals as a meal to survive in places way up north.
The animal that I have chosen to study is the polar bear the Latin name for the polar bear is Urus Maritimus. They are a mammal which means that they give birth to live young and provide milk for their offspring when born (Defenders of wildlife, 2014). The polar bear is a predatory animal and is the top of the food chain in the Artic, its main consumption of food are seals (both bearded and ringed usually) they will also eat walrus and any whale carcasses that may be laying around as they are opportunistic feeders (National geographic, 2014). Polar bears travel along way in order to find their prey, however if they are not able to find the animal they need; occasionally they will eat vegetation that is available to them along the way (live science, 2014).
A threatened species on the Endangered Species list, polar bears are often brought up when discussing climate change and for good reason. Polar bears are entirely dependent on ice to live and hunt. Regional temperatures effect when the ice breaks up and when it forms. Due to a rise of temperature in the arctic regions, ice forms later, melts earlier and has a decreasing amount every year. In the “Environment: Trends” section of the National Snow & Ice Data Center website, the author states that, “Arctic ice has been decreasing at an average rate of about 3 percent per decade…”