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Family Ursidae
By: Matt Rittenhouse

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Asiatic Black Bear
Black Bear
Brown Bear
Giant Panda
Polar Bear
Sloth Bear
Spectacled Bear
Sun Bear

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Large, elongated skulls
Non-retractible claws
Comparatively small facial features
Short, stubby tails

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Solidarity
Use of shelters
Usually nocturnal
Short male-female association for mating
No natural predators

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Live in diverse environments around the world
Present in nearly all terrestrial habitats
Must have proximity to water
Most abundant and diverse in temperate forests
Found in the arctic tundra, tropical locations, temperate forests, mountainous areas, grasslands, deserts

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Brown Bear - Ursus arctos
i. Location and habitat information: Found in forests and mountains of Northern North America, Europe, and Asia. Primarily in temperate forest environments. Most distributed species of the Group.
ii. Physical characteristics: Average life span of 25 years. Range from 5-8ft tall and weigh up to 700 pounds. Massive size, extremely small comparative size of facial features - eyes and nose. No carnassials (shearing molars). Plantigrade, flat, feet.
iii. Behavior: Diurnal in summer. Often build day beds to relax in hidden places near food sources. Hibernate for up to 7 months. Respect of Alpha males however not extremely territorial. Females display 7 times more aggressive attacks than males. Females extremely protective of young.
Picture Source: http://elelur.com/mammals/brown-bear.html

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Polar Bear - Ursus maritimus
i. Location and habitat information: Polar bears are found in areas within the Arctic Circle including Canada, Russia, Alaska, Greenland, and Norway. Polar bears live in tundra environments with large amounts of ice and snow.
ii. Physical Characteristics: Uniquely, polar bears have hairs and bumps on their paws to allow for better traction when traversing over ice. Have two fur coats and a thick layer of blubber to keep their body temperature at 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit while in sub-zero temperatures. Polar bears actually have black skin and clear fur, which becomes white from the environment, their white color allows for snow camouflage. Polar bears are the largest land predators, weighing up to 1,300 pound and averaging anywhere between 4.4-6.6 feet tall. Polar bears have slightly webbed paws to allow for better movement and faster swimming.
iii. Behavior: Due to the lack of vegetation, polar bears are strictly carnivores. Use strong sense of smell to seek out prey. Polar bears do not hibernate however females go dormant when pregnant. Females usually give birth to one or two cubs, but primarily give birth to twins. When raising the young, the mother wants no help from the father in raising the young.
Picture source: https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/polar-bear

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Giant Panda - Ailuropoda melanoleuca
i: Location and habitat information: Have a restricted habitat, present in 6 small areas of Southwest  China. Panda bears live in cool, wet forests full of bamboo.
ii. Physical characteristics: Average height between 4 and 5 feet, weighing about 165-350 pounds. Panda bears have thick white and black fur with pigmented skin. Panda bears, although usually see on the ground, are skilled climbers and swimmers.
iii. Behavior: Panda bears eat for half of every day, roughly a full 12 hours. Consume 28 pounds of bamboo to sustain their diet. Panda bears are omnivores, their primary meal being bamboo but occasionally eat birds, small animals, and insects. Pandas are often seen in a relaxed sitting position. Pandas are naturally solitary, but will use sense of smell to find mates. Females give birth to 1-2 cubs but are only capable of caring for one cub at a time.
Picture source: http://www.kvoa.com/story/35069922/scientists-finally-figure-out-why-panda-bears-have-black-and-white-fur

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http://rcastilho.pt/Computer_labs/6_Importing,_aligning_and_building_trees_%28URSIDAE%29.html

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Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Ursidae
Genus: Ursus
Species: arctos

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Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Ursidae
Genus: Ursus
Species: maritimus

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Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Ursidae
Genus: Ailuropoda
Species: melanoleuca

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By looking at the taxonomy of the three exemplary species, one can see they are all related through their family. Further analysis of the taxonomy proves that brown bears and polar bears are more closely related to each other than to the giant panda. Polar and brown bears are related up to the genus Ursus, which is where the giant panda seperates by genus Ailuropoda.

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The bear embryo shown in this diagram is very early in the developmental process. This is where evolution is clearly visible and factual. While still not even having been birthed, the bear embryo goes from an unrecognizable globular shape to a nearly identical version of a birthed bear (next photo).
https://www.pinterest.com/CjoArts/amazing-world/?lp=true

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The picture below is a late stage embryo of a polar bear. As seen in the picture, the organism has greatly developed and the mother would likely be nearing the birthing stage.
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/177892254001511044/

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A 110,000 year old fossil discovery in the Norwegian Coastal Cliffs in 2004 suggests that polar bears evolved rapidly in terms of standard evolution. The fossil found, which is thought to be a side of a male jaw bone, was further examined. By studying the carbon and nitrogen still present in the fossil, researchers discovered ratios that are on par with a bear that gets it's nutrition from seafood. That observation explains that after just 20,000 years after the divergence from forest-inhabiting bears, polar bears had already evolved a distinctive marine lifestyle. This fossil suggests polar bears evolved through punctuated equilibrium.
http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/news/100401_polarbears

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This hind paw fossil is believed to have belonged to the ancient Ursus spelaeus that lived during the Pleistocene era anywhere from 10,000-300,000 years ago. The contrasting shape between this ancient bears hind paw and a current bear paw is astonishing and a clear signal of evolution, whereas this fossil more closely resembles a human hand.
http://www.fossilmall.com/EDCOPE_Enterprises/vertebrates/vfossil19/vert-fossil-19.htm

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This reconstructed full body fossil is another of the Ursus spelaeus, the cave bear. The large amount of these in-tact, full body fossils that have been found suggest that as the name suggests, cave bears spent the majority of their lives in caves. This discovery differs from current species such as the brown bear who utilize caves only during hibernation, revealing a development in behavior.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave_bear

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This is the fossil of the biggest bear species to ever walk on Earth. The animal lived in prehistoric South America, and weighed up to 3,500 pounds. This shows a great decrease in size over time, as the largest modern bear to have been found was a 2,200 pound Alaskan polar bear.
http://www.crystalinks.com/fossilbear.html

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This image shows the skull of the earliest species of the panda (left) compared to a giant panda skull. The early panda skull shows the small bodied "pygmy" was present in China two-three million years ago, and was already adapted to eating bamboo. The early panda species has been identified as Ailuropoda microta, and has developed and evolved over time into the massive giant panda species of today.
http://www.crystalinks.com/fossilbear.html

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This fossil belongs to an early bear subfamily, Amphicynodontinae, which is much smaller and more raccoon like than in comparison to modern bears. Because of this animal's size, it likely had a much different diet and as it evolved and developed over time it became more of a fierce predator.
http://www.crystalinks.com/fossilbear.html

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Members of the group all share certain common physiological and anatomical similarities. For instance, the polar bear, brown bear, and the giant panda all share large, elongated skulls and non-retractible claws which they use for scraping, cutting, and traction. Some anatomical similarities include the way in which they move. Any of the three exemplary organisms may stand on their hind legs while walking on their soles rather than toes. Bears will stand on their hind legs when they feel they are provoked, that is why it is best to avoid a standing bear.

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There had always been a hypothesis that polar and brown bears were more closely related than any other two bear species. DNA and chromosomal analysis of the species confirms the hypothesis. The researchers at University of California, Santa Cruz published their findings in PLOS Genetics. The study showed that a species of brown bears in the ABC islands in Alaska had 6.5 percent of their X chromosomes inherited from polar bears. This discovery proved that their is chromosomal relations between the two species, and in addition the ABC island bears shared more DNA polar bear females than males.

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Between the three exemplary organisms, there are instances of both gradual and punctuated equilibrium. The giant panda and brown bear evolved into their current state gradually over millions of years. However, evolution into the polar bear species was comparatively much more rapid, as the species diverged from the brown bear species, also showing how they are the most closely related.

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Because there are only eight bear species spread across all continents except Antarctica, the type of evolution for Family Ursidae is divergent evolution. All bear species likely evolved from a single common ancestor, showing why they are all also so physically and anatomically similar.

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Species such as the polar bear and brown bear were geographically separated during the last ice age, resulting in the formation of two completely different species. Many other bear species have also become geographically isolated, which shows why species such as the giant panda are only found in a small area of Southern China.

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A species such as the brown bear can be found on several continents throughout the world while the giant panda is found in only a very small area. This is likely because brown bears were at one time able to travel and move into and out of different areas around the world and make the area a new habitat, resulting in a widespread population.

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Descent with modification is present in Family Ursidae as certain traits are shared between all bear species such as elongated skulls and non-retractible claws. The different species of the family can be traced through these traits, as at one point they were developed and gave the organism a competitive edge. The successfulness of these traits were passed on, and are now shared by all bear species. Bear species also likely developed through diversifying selection. Each bear species is adapted to live in it's own environment. The environment creates a diverse species of bears. For example, through environmental changes, the polar bear became a different species from the brown bear. Over time, the species became accustomed to their new environments and now a brown bear is unable to survive in a polar bear environment and a polar bear could not survive in a brown bear environment.

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http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Ursidae/

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/b/brown-bear/

http://library.sandiegozoo.org/factsheets/brown_bear/brown_bear.html#distribution

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/p/polar-bear/

http://www.animalfactguide.com/animal-facts/polar-bear/

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/g/giant-panda/

http://elelur.com/mammals/brown-bear.html

https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/polar-bear

http://www.kvoa.com/story/35069922/scientists-finally-figure-out-why-panda-bears-have-black-and-white-fur

http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/41688/0

https://seaworld.org/en/animal-info/animal-bytes/mammals/polar-bear

https://a-z-animals.com/animals/giant-panda-bear/

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/177892254001511044/

http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/news/100401_polarbears

http://www.fossilmall.com/EDCOPE_Enterprises/vertebrates/vfossil19/vert-fossil-19.htm

http://www.bioexpedition.com/bear-anatomy/

http://news.ucsc.edu/2013/03/polar-bear-genomics.html

http://rcastilho.pt/Computer_labs/6_Importing,_aligning_and_building_trees_%28URSIDAE%29.html