Arctic Bears

How Grizzlies Evolved into Polar Bears

The icon of the Arctic, the polar bear, is the ultimate survivor in one of the
harshest areas on Earth. Reigning over a world of ice, tundra, and snow,
this carnivore would seem to have a lineage that traces back to some
mammoth creature of the icy regions.

But in fact, the polar bears closest ancestor is a land carnivore we
associate more strongly with our forests. Over the years, scientists have
uncovered an evolutionary path suggesting that polar bears are a
relatively new species, and actually a subspecies, of Ursus arctos, more
widely known as the brown bear. Scientic evidence has found that the
brown bear, a species that also includes grizzly bears, was a precursor
to polar bears, which then went on to develop specializations for
inhabiting the harsh Arctic.

Proving their genetic compatibility, brown bears and polar bears can mate
and produce viable, or fertile, o"spring. It is this reproductive viability that
establishes that an animal belongs within a given species. In 2006, a
hybrid grizzly/polar bear, which some call a pizzly, was discovered in the
Canadian Arctic, providing researchers proof that polar bears and grizzly
bears can interbreed, even in the wild. How come bears can do this but
not lions and tigers? And when researchers in Alaska compared the DNA
of brown bears from around the world, looking for genetic links, they
made an interesting discovery about one population of brown bears in
particular. Analysis of the DNA of a distinct population of brown bears
living on Alaskas ABC islands, 900 miles south of the nearest polar bear,
revealed that the ABC bears were even more closely related to polar
bears genetically than they were to other brown bears.

So just when did polar bears arise as a separate subspecies? Genetic
models show that the emergence of the polar bear could have taken
place as recently as 70,000 years ago or as many as 1.5 million years
ago. For many years, a fossil found at Kew Bridge in London was
considered the oldest polar bear specimen. The fossil then placed the
evolution around 70,000 years ago. But recently, scientists uncovered a
fossilized jawbone from an island in the Arctic Ocean midway between
Norway and the North Pole, dated to be at least 100,000 years old.
Scientists believe this jawbone may represent the remains of the oldest-
known polar bear, thus marking the appearance of the polar bear earlier
than previously thought.

Relying on the fossil record and DNA analysis, scientists have been able
to arrive at a clearer picture of the polar bears evolutionary path over the
millennia. Some 200,000 years ago, when glaciers covered much of
Eurasia, the Arctic Ocean was completely frozen. It was during this
challenging period that brown bears began to wander in search of food.
Approximately 125,000 years ago a population of brown bears in the far
north of their range was likely split o" from their brown bear ancestors,
perhaps because of competition for food. The opistite e"ect is now
happening because the grizzlies are going into polar bears environme and
vis versa The population likely became isolated by massive glaciers and,
while most died in the harsh environment, those bears with an
evolutionary advantage ideal coat color and thickness for extreme cold
survived and bred. Over thousands of years, this population of bears
underwent further evolutionary change, adapting even more specialized
traits for surviving the harsh polar environment. Natural Selection When
life in the North demanded teeth better shaped for ripping apart seals
than munching berries, the polar bears molar teeth changed signicantly
from those of the brown bear. The bears also grew white fur, which
camouaged them in their snow-covered surroundings and gave them a
hunting advantage. Scientists believe that at rst these bears scavenged
seal carcasses that had washed ashore, and gradually began to hunt the
seals by waiting at the waters edge as the seals surfaced to breathe.
Does this make them smarter than brown bears? This is believed to be an
important step in the evolution of a new subspecies of bear Ursus
maritimus or the polar bear.

Nature once exerted such extreme pressure on the brown bear that it
eventually gave rise to a new, better-adapted subspecies, the polar bear.
Now, once again, evolutionary forces are acting on this long-enduring
species. As the Arctic warms, the polar bears unique specializations that
once lent it an evolutionary edge, may now be the creatures downfall. A
changing climate may name a new king of the Arctic the erce and
opportunistic brown bear.

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/arctic-bears/how-grizzlies-
evolved-into-http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2014/05/08/polar-bear-
genome-gives-new-insight-into-adaptations-to-high-fat-diet/-bears/777/