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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).
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.
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.
As the Arctic warms, polar bears face a growing risk of contracting viruses, bacteria and parasites that they were less likely to encounter just 30 years ago, research has revealed. In a study ...
An isolated group of polar bears living in southeast Greenland has surprised scientists with its ability to survive in a habitat with relatively little sea ice.
Researchers found that most of the polar bears are losing weight, about 0.4 to 1.7 kilograms per day.
The polar bear has stocky limbs and very short ears that are in accordance with the predictions of Allen's rule, so does the snow leopard. [5] In 2007, R.L. Nudds and S.A. Oswald studied the exposed lengths of seabirds ' legs and found that the exposed leg lengths were negatively correlated with Tm axdiff (body temperature minus minimum ambient ...
Ursus is a genus in the family Ursidae that includes the widely distributed brown bear, [3] the polar bear, [4] the American black bear, and the Asian black bear. The name is derived from the Latin ursus, meaning bear. [5] [6]