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Bears of the World - Page 2

© Gerald Eugene Smith

The Bear clan is part of the great Carnivore family of placental mammals. Nearly all meat-eating land mammals belong to this family (the rare ones that don't, such as the Tasmanian Devil, are considered great oddities), and the great majority of the members of this family are, in fact, primarily meat-eaters, with bears being the major exception. The Carnivore family is divided into two distinct groupings; the Cat-like Carnivores (Felines proper, Hyaenas and Civets), and the Dog-like Carnivores (Canines, Weasels, Raccoons and Bears). The great Seal clan is sometimes considered to be a third grouping within the Carnivores and sometimes is treated as as separate family of their own. The possible evolutionary relationships between seals and land dwelling carnivores is obscure. We really do not yet know much about the early evolution of the seals. It is likely that the Earless Seals (think Harbor Seals) evolved from otter-like animals in the Weasel clan and that the Eared Seals (the kind that can easily move on land-- Sea Lions, Walruses and Elephant Seals) may well have evolved from primitive bears. There are striking resemblances in the skull structure of Sea Lions and Ursine bears. The precise relationship between the bears and Eared Seals remains a dark mystery--- we basically don't know how and where they evolved. Perhaps genetic studies will help clarify matters.

The closest known relatives of the bears are the raccoons. This may sound unlikely, but if you see a Grizzly in late spring with his winter coat and most body fat gone, you will easily see the resemblance. About 30 million years ago, a group of Carnivores (which had split from the ancestors of the Canines) and resembled small stubby raccoons split into two groups. One group remained small and became raccoons proper, and the other soon showed tendencies to growing to a large size and became bears proper. The Red Panda and Panda Bear have retained many characteristics of this common ancestor which was what made their classification so controversial for so long. The bears, for the most part, evolved in Eurasia (except for one branch, the Tremarctine Bears, which early slipped over to the New World), and the raccoons did most of their evolution in the New World.

I have already discussed at length the characteristics of the three North American species of bears (Black, Grizzly and Polar) and will restrict myself to briefly describing the remaining five. The Spectacled Bear of South America somewhat resembles the black bear, but has white markings on the face (which sometimes resemble spectacles) and has a short muzzle. Perhaps the best tree-climber of all bears, this largely vegetarian animal is shy and inoffensive but seriously endangered. Persecuted for occasionally raiding crops, only a few thousand survive in remote rain forests of the Eastern Andes Mountains. Little is known of the habits of this rare animal and its conservation deserves to be taken more seriously.

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