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The polar bear (Ursus maritimus) is a large bear native to the Arctic and nearby areas. It is closely related to the brown bear, and the two species can interbreed.The polar bear is the largest extant species of bear and land carnivore, with adult males weighing 300–800 kg (660–1,760 lb).
Date: 3 July 2023: Source: Own work using: Fig. 3 in Peacock, Elizabeth (2015-01-06)."Implications of the Circumpolar Genetic Structure of Polar Bears for Their Conservation in a Rapidly Warming Arctic".
A polar bear and its cub. Animals that are active in the winter have adaptations for surviving the intense cold. [55] A common example is the presence of strikingly large feet in proportion to body weight. These act like snowshoes and can be found on animals like the snowshoe hare and caribou.
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Polar bear feeding on a seal on an ice floe north of Svalbard, Norway. It is the most carnivorous species. The sloth bear is not as specialized as polar bears and the panda, has lost several front teeth usually seen in bears, and developed a long, suctioning tongue to feed on the ants, termites, and other burrowing insects
Although polar bears spend most of their time on the ice rather than in the water, polar bears show the beginnings of aquatic adaptation to swimming (high levels of body fat and nostrils that are able to close), diving, and thermoregulation. Distinctly polar bear fossils can be dated to about 100,000 years ago.
In warmer areas of the polar regions moths, butterflies and beetles can be found. Some of the larger animals that exist are foxes, wolves, rabbits, hares, polar bears, reindeer/caribou. There are various bird species that have been spotted in the Arctic. Eight species of birds reside on the polar tundra year round while 150 breed in the Arctic ...
The key danger for polar bears posed by the effects of climate change is malnutrition or starvation due to habitat loss.Polar bears hunt seals from a platform of sea ice. Rising temperatures cause the sea ice to melt earlier in the year, driving the bears to shore before they have built sufficient fat reserves to survive the period of scarce food in the late summer and early fall.