The American Black Bear ( Ursus Americanus )

Because they have dispersed into many different habitats, they have developed adaptations to live in different types of places, such as

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 Grizzly Bear is a Keystone species. A keystone species is the center block, of which an ecosystem largely relies on. The Grizzly Bear lives in places such as alpine slopes, avalanche shoots and lower elevation wetlands.

Today, Louisiana has made extraordinary rescues with species that were once considered threatened or endangered. Due to safe planning and the Endangered Species Act, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service projected to remove the Louisiana Black Bear from the list of threatened species. In May 2015, approximately 350 black bears to 600 black bears existed in Northern Louisiana in which $900,000 was invested to restore its population. Severe habitat loss of the black bear is what initially led to the decline in the population. In 1992, the Louisiana Black Bear was placed on the list of endangered and threatened species and in May 2015, they were officially removed (Wildlife Division - Texas Parks and Wildlife Department,

Outside the british Columbia only about one in a million black bears are white. One of these bears,a subadult male lived near Orr, minnesota in 1996.Hair samples showed him to be genetically different from white Kermode bears.

Prior to the late 1900s they roamed throughout Florida, over 53,000 square miles of land. From the Panhandle to the Keys, to the southern edges of our neighboring states. At that time an estimated twelve to twenty thousand black bears roamed throughout Florida.

Beauseour and Princess island along the rain-forest coast of British Columbia most spirit bears live there.

The American badger is found in regions of North America from southern Canada and down through Mexico. They usually stick to open grassland ranges.

(figure 4) Current distribution of the Louisiana black bear, Ursus americanus luteolus, decades after listed as an Endangered

However, since the early 2000s black bear and human interactions have become more frequent. New Jersey has excellent bear habitat is found primarily within Sussex, Passaic, Warren and Morris counties which are in the northern part of New

The black bear, ursus americanus, roams in different places in America including Texas. Its North America the black bears habitat ranges from Mexico all the way to Canada. In the state of Texas, the black bear is under threatened status, it also has the same status under the United States (Texas Parks and Wildlife Department). According to the Texas Parks Wildlife Department (2016) in the state of Texas they are usually found in the Western area in the Trans Pecos ecoregion. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (2016) has reported that there have been recent sightings of the Louisiana Black Bear in the Eastern part of Texas, where they used to have a strong population. This comes as surprising since the Louisiana Black Bear has an endangered status in the United States, as well as in the state of Texas. Even though the black bear species population in Texas is not as strong as it used to be in the past, many efforts are being done to recolonize the black bear in the South Western region of Texas by, studying their habitat as well as their eating habits, checking the DNA of the bears already in the area to see their genetic structures, regulating protection policies for black bears, and educating the people on the species.

American black bears play a key role in hunting for preys such as deer, beavers, and small woodland mammals. When hunting, these bears tear apart logs and any obstacles they might encounter. Bacteria, fungi, and worms benefit from this action as they are able to gain their nutrients by aiding in the decomposition in forested environments. American black bears are omnivores, meaning they get both meat and plants. Most of their diet are plant based such as berries, seeds, grass, and honey. Their consumption of berries and other fruits, help with the distribution the seeds of various fruits. Small species such as squirrels and birds benefit from this as they are able to obtain their food.

Black bears typically live in either coniferous or deciduous forests. For their food, black bears also like to live near rivers with lots of plants and animals. These habitats range all over North America, including Alaska and North Mexico (American Black Bears, 2015). Black Bears can adapt to their habitats, especially when they are in hot or cold climates. In the different climates, like the hot of Mexico, or the cold of Alaska, their fur coat or color may be significantly darker or lighter.

As a media and public relations agent for the Canadian Province of British Columbia, Connor Baldwin has spent many years photographing the bears of the region. There are two distinct species of bear that are native to British Columbia, the Grizzly Bear and the Kermode Bear. Each of these bear species are unique, and important to the wildlife and ecology of their habitat.

According to Ireland (2012), a habitat is defined as the place where the organism lives and the niche defines the organism’s “job,” or role in the community. Everything from where an organism lives to what it eats to what time of day it is active helps define its niche. Knowing the habitat requirements of any organism allows us to predict its location (Ireland, 2012, pg.50). Two organisms I chose that represent unique adaptations to a particular environment are the Maned Wolf and Zunda Flying Lemur. The maned wolf have the most unbelievably long legs, a characteristic that helps them see above the tall grasses of central South America and It is believed that the maned wolf’s distinctive legs are an adaptation