Approximate Dates of Origin of Bear Species
from Bears of the World by Lance Craighead, Ph.D. SPECIES DATE OF ORIGIN FROM FOSSIL EVIDENCE DATE OF ORIGIN FROM GENETIC EVIDENCE AREA OF ORIGIN Panda Bear Superfamily Ailuropodinae >…
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All Bear Facts
Why Are Black Bears so Timid?
The Pleistocene Ice Age was a dangerous time for black bears across North America. For hundreds of thousands of years—until about 10,000 years ago—North America was home to saber-toothed cats,…
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Bear Evolution
Early bears Bears are the youngest of the carnivore families, having arisen from doglike ancestors during the Eocene Epoch 55 million to 38 million years ago. The earliest bears had…
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How Big Was This Short-Faced Bear?
On 4 feet, he was 5½ to 6 feet at the shoulders. With the front legs straight, the skeleton is 66 inches to the top of the shoulder blades (the…
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The Giant Short-Faced Bear
Arctodus simus The Fastest Running Bear That Ever Lived Also called the bulldog bear, the giant short-faced bear (Arctodus simus) was undoubtedly the fastest running bear that ever lived. Rangier…
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Myth: Polar Bears Are Solar
For decades, scientists believed that polar bear hairs function as fiber-optic conductors. They believed the hairs collect ultra-violet light and direct it to the black skin where it is somehow…
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Polar Bears and Dogs
Brian Ladoon of Churchill, MB, breeds sled dogs in the midst of polar bears. Each summer, the bears come ashore from Hudson Bay and wait for ice to re-form in…
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Polar Bear Facts
Taxonomy: The scientific name for the polar bear is Ursus maritimus, which means ‘Sea Bear’ in Latin. Distribution and Population: Polar bears are found throughout the ice-covered waters of the…
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Do Grizzlies Live in Minnesota?
No, not any more, although grizzly bears may have lived within 50 miles of Ely 5,000 to 8,000 years ago. At that time, much of Minnesota was prairie. Grizzly bear…
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Big Brown Bears
Kodiak bears are among the largest of all living bears, being comparable in size to polar bears. Sixteen of the twenty largest brown bears killed by hunters have come from…
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