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Ursus (genus)
Encyclopedia
Ursus is a genus
in the family Ursidae (bear
s) that includes the widely distributed brown bear
s, the polar bear
, and black bear
s. The name is derived from the Latin
ursus, meaning bear.
A hybrid between grizzly bears and polar bears has also been recorded (known commonly as a pizzly bear). The official name is a grizzly-polar bear hybrid
.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
in the family Ursidae (bear
Bear
Bears are mammals of the family Ursidae. Bears are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans, with the pinnipeds being their closest living relatives. Although there are only eight living species of bear, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Northern...
s) that includes the widely distributed brown bear
Brown Bear
The brown bear is a large bear distributed across much of northern Eurasia and North America. It can weigh from and its largest subspecies, the Kodiak Bear, rivals the polar bear as the largest member of the bear family and as the largest land-based predator.There are several recognized...
s, the polar bear
Polar Bear
The polar bear is a bear native largely within the Arctic Circle encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the world's largest land carnivore and also the largest bear, together with the omnivorous Kodiak Bear, which is approximately the same size...
, and black bear
American black bear
The American black bear is a medium-sized bear native to North America. It is the continent's smallest and most common bear species. Black bears are omnivores, with their diets varying greatly depending on season and location. They typically live in largely forested areas, but do leave forests in...
s. The name is derived from the Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
ursus, meaning bear.
Species and subspecies of Ursus
- American Black BearAmerican black bearThe American black bear is a medium-sized bear native to North America. It is the continent's smallest and most common bear species. Black bears are omnivores, with their diets varying greatly depending on season and location. They typically live in largely forested areas, but do leave forests in...
, Ursus americanus- Cinnamon BearCinnamon bearThe Cinnamon Bear is a subspecies of the American black bear, native to Colorado, New Mexico, Idaho, Montana, Washington, Wyoming, and western Canada...
, Ursus americanus cinnamomum - Kermode BearKermode bearThe Kermode bear , also known as a "spirit bear" , is a subspecies of the American Black Bear living in the central and north coast of British Columbia, Canada. It is noted for about 1/10 of their population having white or cream-coloured coats...
, Ursus americanus kermodei
- Cinnamon Bear
- Brown BearBrown BearThe brown bear is a large bear distributed across much of northern Eurasia and North America. It can weigh from and its largest subspecies, the Kodiak Bear, rivals the polar bear as the largest member of the bear family and as the largest land-based predator.There are several recognized...
, Ursus arctos- European Brown Bear, Ursus arctos arctos
- East Siberian Brown Bear, Ursus arctos collaris
- Kamchatka Brown BearKamchatka Brown BearThe Kamchatka brown bear , also known as the Far Eastern brown bear, is a subspecies of brown bear, native to the Anadyrsky District, the Kamchatka Peninsula, Karaginskiy Island, the Kuril Islands, the coastal strip west of the Sea of Okhotsk southward to the Stanovoy Range and the Shantar Islands...
, Ursus arctos beringianus - Atlas BearAtlas BearThe Atlas Bear is an extinct subspecies of the Brown Bear, which is sometimes classified as a distinct species.-Range and description:...
, Ursus arctos crowtheri (extinct) - Gobi BearGobi BearThe Gobi bear is a subspecies of the brown bear, Ursus arctos, found in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia. At present they are listed as "very rare" in the Mongolian Red Book, and may represent a threatened subspecies, as the small population of Gobi bears makes them vulnerable to outside threats...
, Ursus arctos gobiensis - Grizzly BearGrizzly BearThe grizzly bear , also known as the silvertip bear, the grizzly, or the North American brown bear, is a subspecies of brown bear that generally lives in the uplands of western North America...
, Ursus arctos horribilis - Himalayan Brown BearHimalayan Brown BearThe Himalayan Brown Bear , also known as the Himalayan Red Bear, Isabelline Bear or Dzu-Teh, is a subspecies of the Brown Bear. The bear is thought to be the source of the legend of the Yeti....
, Ursus arctos isabellinus - Kodiak BearKodiak BearThe Kodiak bear , also known as the Kodiak brown bear or the Alaskan grizzly bear or American brown bear, occupies the islands of the Kodiak Archipelago in South-Western Alaska. Its name in the Alutiiq language is Taquka-aq. It is the largest subspecies of brown bear.- Taxonomy :Taxonomist C.H...
, Ursus arctos middendorffi - Mexican Grizzly Bear, Ursus arctos nelsoni (extinct?)
- Tibetan Blue Bear, Ursus arctos pruinosus
- Syrian Brown BearSyrian Brown BearThe Syrian brown bear is a relatively small subspecies of brown bear native to Eurasia.- Distribution :Within the former Soviet Union, it occurs in Transcaucasia, Talysh, Northern Armenia, Abkhazia, Karabakh and Kopet Dag. Outside the ex-USSR, it occurs in Iran, Iraq and Turkey...
, Ursus arctos syriacus - Ussuri Brown BearUssuri Brown BearThe Ussuri brown bear , also known as the black grizzly is a subspecies of the brown bear found in the Ussuri krai, Sakhalin, the Amur Oblast, northward to the Shantar Islands, Iturup Island, northeastern China, the Korean peninsula, Hokkaidō and Kunashiri Island. This subspecies is thought to be...
, Ursus arctos lasiotus
- Deninger's Bear, Ursus deningeri (extinct)
- Etruscan Bear, Ursus etruscus (extinct)
- Polar BearPolar BearThe polar bear is a bear native largely within the Arctic Circle encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the world's largest land carnivore and also the largest bear, together with the omnivorous Kodiak Bear, which is approximately the same size...
, Ursus maritimus (earlier Thalarctos maritimus)- (No common name), Ursus maritimus maritimus (classification contested)
- (No common name), Ursus maritimus marinus (classification contested)
- (No common name), Ursus maritimus tyrannusUrsus maritimus tyrannusUrsus maritimus tyrannus was a very large fossil subspecies of polar bear, descended from an Arctic population of brown bears. Its name in Latin means tyrant sea bear. The species is mentioned by Björn Kurtén, who assigned it to a Polar bear subspecies, U. m. tyrannus. Its bones have been found in...
(extinct)
- Auvergne bearUrsus minimusUrsus minimus is an extinct species of bear, endemic to Europe during the Pliocene, living from ~5.3—1.8 Mya, existing for approximately ....
, Ursus minimus (extinct) - Cave BearCave BearThe cave bear was a species of bear that lived in Europe during the Pleistocene and became extinct at the beginning of the Last Glacial Maximum about 27,500 years ago....
, Ursus spelaeus (extinct) - Asiatic Black BearAsiatic Black BearThe Asian black bear , also known as the moon bear or white-chested bear is a medium-sized species of bear, largely adapted for arboreal life, which occurs through much of southern Asia, Korea, northeastern China, the Russian far east and Honshū and Shikoku islands of Japan...
, Ursus thibetanus, or Selenarctos thibetanus- Formosan Black BearFormosan Black BearThe Formosan black bear , also known as the white-throated bear, is a subspecies of the Asiatic black bear. Formosan black bears are endemic to Taiwan. In 2001, they were voted the most representative wildlife of Taiwan in a half-year long countrywide voting campaign...
, Ursus thibetanus formosanus - Baluchistan Bear or PakistanPakistanPakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
Black Bear, Ursus thibetanus gedrosianus - (No common name), Ursus thibetanus japonica
- (No common name), Ursus thibetanus laniger
- (No common name), Ursus thibetanus mupinensis
- (No common name), Ursus thibetanus thibetanus
- (No common name), Ursus thibetanus ussuricus
- Formosan Black Bear
A hybrid between grizzly bears and polar bears has also been recorded (known commonly as a pizzly bear). The official name is a grizzly-polar bear hybrid
Grizzly-polar bear hybrid
A grizzly–polar bear hybrid is a rare ursid hybrid that has occurred both in captivity and in the wild. In 2006, the occurrence of this hybrid in nature was confirmed by testing the DNA for a strange-looking bear that had been shot near Sachs Harbour, Northwest Territories on Banks Island in the...
.