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Bear Evolution and Hybridization

Nicole Neumann
Comparative Vertebrate Biology
Fleming College - Fish and Wildlife Technician
Thursday, November 26th 2015

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Abstract
Bear evolution and hybridization have been apparent throughout many years in evolutionary
history. As these two aspects in evolutionary history continue, so do the divergences of major
bear clades. In this report, the evolution of bear clades along with there suggested time of
divergence is discussed. With the ability to analysis DNA, and thus genomic and phenotypic
characteristics, discovering new information regarding the evolutionary process and
hybridization process within different bear species is possible. In addition, there are other
processes that affect the rate of evolution and reason for adaptation, such as natural occurring
processes like glaciation. Environmental changes and introgression are two main causes of
evolution and hybridization discussed in this report. Also regarding these two causes are the pros
and cons of them. Being able to adapt to environmental changes in order to survive is a good
ability, although the genetic integrity of a species becomes threatened when hybridization is
occurring. Although, in the end, what is most important is the survival of our species and the
sustainability of our species diversity for many years to come.

keywords: bear, evolution, hybridization, genomic, phenotypic, history, DNA, introgression,

biology, adaptation, species, influence, human, divergence, climate change,

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Introduction
Throughout the years, different species of bears have evolved around the world. Their
evolution has made them able to survive harsh conditions. Two reasons as to why bears have had
to better their lives are due two the drastic climatic changes over time, as well as the present
affects of global warming. In science, we are not completely sure about many things, but
evolution is a theory which we have found proof in. Over time, scientists have examined and
studied species, as well as their evolution. One example where they do so is by finding remains
of species, in this case bears, and they look at differences between them and compare them to
bears that have died or to ones that are still alive. Therefore, evidence has been found over time
through their remains and this will aid in future discoveries of their evolutionary history. Along
with evolution, hybridization has also been occurring in the evolutionary history of bear species.
Pros of adaptation and cons of hybridization are discussed in this report, along with results of
DNA analysis on certain bear populations that has revealed proof of both occurring in the
evolutionary history of bear species.
Discussion
Evolution
The family Ursidae is one of the families within the Caniformia suborder, and there are 9
families. The order Carnivora has carnivores seen as doglike. Due to their genetics and progress
of evolution, bears also have closely related relatives which have similar features. These relatives

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are also the closest to them, and they are the canids, musteloids, and pinnipeds. Like other
species, bears have specific traits they evolved, separating them from their relative families.
These traits vary in size, function, and importance. They have an alisphenoid canal, a
paroccipital process, which is big unlike in other relatives, and is not fused to the auditory bullae.
Also, the bullae is not enlarged like in other families. They also have a lacrimal bone, and their
cheek teeth are different by being bunodont (Bear, n.d).
Regarding subfamilies, modern bears fall into eight species which go into these
subfamilies. One subfamily is Ailuropodinae, which includes the giant panda. The second
subfamily is called Tremarctine, and has the spectacled bear. The third subfamily is Ursinae,
which includes six different species that are separated into three genera (Bear, n.d). Other
Ursidae subfamilies are Agriotheriinae, Ursavus, and Hemicyoninae, and all subfamilies stem
from the Cephalogale (Mclellan, n.d). The earliest members of Ursidae were in the already
extinct subfamily called Amphicynodontinae. This included the Parictis that lived in late Eocene
to the early middle of Miocene. It also lived a bit before Allocyon which lived from the
beginning of Oligocene. These species were very unique by appearance compared to bears found
in our present day. They had much smaller structures, which made them look more like raccoons.
Not only were their body sizes different, but their diets were also more like the diet of a badger
(Bear, n.d). The new world short-faced bears, Tremarctinae, came from Ursinae after a dispersal
event in North America. This genus is most likely a direct ancestor to short-faced species in
North America, the Arctodus, and the ones in South America, the Arctotherium, and also
the spectacled bears, the Tremarctos. During the history of the evolution of bears, there were also

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major environmental changes, and the sloth bear was a survivor of one of the earliest lines to
differentiate during this time. Later on, Ursus minimus appears, and other than its size, it was
practically the same as the Asiatic black bear present today. This bear is likely to be the ancestor
to bears in Ursinae, except for the sloth bear. Two lines then evolved from Ursus minimus. These
include the black bears in one, and the brown bears including the polar bears in the other. Brown
bears today evolved from Ursus minimus by the Ursus etruscus, that is itself an ancestor of the
now extinct Pleistocene cave bear and the brown bears and polar bears still around today (Bear,
n.d).
Hybridization
Hybridization can be defined as a concept like Darwins; species maintain a certain
genetic direction and rate of evolution. Therefore, Darwins existing concept of natural selection
helps to explain the reasons as to why bears have been evolving the way they have. In addition,
the hybridization concept has been mainly occurring by natural selection due to genetics and
environmental changes (Stebbins, 1959). Thus, introgression and environmental changes have
been naturally occurring in the environment in which bear species live.
During the evolutionary history of bears, hybridization has occurred a few times.
Hybridization results in offspring made by two interbreeding individuals of different species, for
the purpose of creating a mix of two species, known as a hybrid. Therefore, introgression of two
different species creates a hybrid. Hybridization can be considered artificial or natural. It can be
called artificial because species are hybridized by humans that would not have chosen to mate

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with each other in their natural environment. It can also occur naturally when habitats of species
overlap, such as in situations where environmental changes have made this possible. For
example, glacial periods in our Earths history have influenced the evolution of polar bears and
brown bears. In a report by Alexandre Hassanin, it is suggested that Pleistocene glaciations are
linked to divergences between large bear clades. It was also suggested that during one of the
three marine isotope stages (14, 15.2, or 16), which occurred 530,000 years ago, polar bears had
diverged from brown bears. Regarding hybridization occurring due to environmental changes, it
was lastly suggested that genetic introgression had been the reason why polar bears populations
had hybridized with brown bear populations at least during two glacial periods in western
Europe, on Admiralty, Baranof and Chichagof islands in southeastern Alaska, as well as in
Beringia and Ireland. All of these suggestions were based on the analysis of ancient DNA
sequences (Hassanin, 2015). In addition to these suggestions, an issue of a volume in Molecular
Ecology, consisted of there being evidence of geographically widespread gene flow from polar
bears into brown bears, specifically in the Admiralty, Baranof and Chichagof islands in
southeastern Alaska. Evidence was discovered when polar bear DNA was found within the
genomes of brown bears inhabiting mainland Alaska as well as these islands. An interesting fact
that came out of this discovery is that brown bear genomes contain up to 8.8% of polar bear
ancestry, although polar bear genomes appeared to not have any brown bear ancestry present.
This had suggested that there may have been some kind of barrier disabling gene flow from
brown bears to polar bears (Cahill et al., 2015). Another example of naturally occurring
hybridization was in a bear found in Cambodia in the year of 2005. It was a mix of the Ursus

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malayanus, which is the sun bear, and the bigger Ursus thibetanus, which is the Asiatic black
bear. It was thought to have occurred due to their habitats overlapping. As in any hybrid, it had
the same characteristics that were present in the two different species of bears (Galbreath, Hunt,
Clements & Waits , 2008). As with many things, there are cons of hybridization. One being
discussed in the book Divergence with Genetic Exchange. Authors describe this con by being the
loss of genetic integrity of a species. In other words, there is a loss of species-specific genomic
and phenotypic characteristics (Arnold, 2015). On the positive side, a pro of evolution that will
always remain true is having the ability to adapt in order to survive environmental changes.
Hybridization has been used on different species of bears throughout many years. For
example, humans performed it on brown bears and polar bears during the time were there was a
rapid climate change. This, humans have influenced the genetics, and in turn the evolution of
bear species. During this time, there was a change in the amount and distribution of habitat
occurring in the North Atlantic that would provide a very good chance for their ranges to
overlap, creating a perfect situation for mating. Even today, climate is changing, especially in the
Arctic, and therefore, the habitat of brown bears and the polar bears are closing in on each other,
creating an opportunity for them to hybridize naturally as well, without the influence of humans.
Even though hybridizations evolutionary role is not yet completely understood, new
proliferation data is showing more examples of hybridized species. In areas where population
density is low and species are near the boundary of their ecological range, hybridization is more
likely to occur. Even though species that are more vulnerable are protected, the amount at which

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hybrids are protected is not as obvious. Also, even though the amount of difference of fitness
between hybrids and their parents is not that clear, there being a greater number of proof of
hybrids in threatened taxa, it would be a good thing to think about protecting hybrids more
because they are under-appreciated in the survival of different species. Although hybridization
seen in todays bears can be something important for evolution down the road, bears like polar
beers and brown bears are for now likely to maintain their species in the future like they have
been able to up until now, and their distinct evolutionary lines over time have and still make it
possible (Edwards et al., 2011).
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is obvious that due to the expansions of species because of hybridization,
and this being because of introgression and environmental changes, this results in changes within
their evolutionary history. The rarity of hybrids reveals that the process only happens maybe
once or twice in evolutionary history. In addition, evolution can be difficult to observe because it
happens over a long time, and it might take a while to figure out if one species is a hybrid or just
a whole other species (Lewontin & Birch, 1996). It is also obvious that evolution and
hybridization have occurred, and have been on-going for many years. Species of Ursidae have
been affected by never-ending changes of their environment, as well as artificial hybridization by
humans both directly and indirectly by affecting the global climate being one example.
Therefore, these changes continue the evolutionary process and the hybridization process. Over
time, they changed not just their physical characteristics but also their type of diet and habitat.

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Environmental changes such as climate change, as well as introgression are two main causes for
evolution and hybridization. In addition to these factors, humans also affect them due to reducing
their habitats because of the ever-growing human population. Meanwhile, humans are also
placing them into different kinds of captivity, as well as hybridizing them as mentioned before,
which is a pro because this increases the success of their species in the future. Another pro
mentioned is the ability of a species to adapt to environmental changes in order to survive. Also
discussed is the con regarding the integrity of a species. This is threatened once there is a loss of
species-specific genomic and phenotypic characteristic. Although there are pros in cons as in
many other things in this world, the main goals are to stay interested in discovering new and
exciting information, using science when aid in an issue is needed, and being able to appreciate
and sustain what we are lucky to have in the present time, so we are able to continue coexisting
with the species we love and care about.

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Literature Cited
Arnold, M. (2015). Introgressive hybridization and the conservation of endangered animals:
North American and Asian bears. In Divergence with genetic exchange (p. 7.2.1).
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Cahill, J. A., Stirling, I., Kistler, L., Salamzade, R., Ersmark, E., Fulton, T. L., ... & Shapiro, B.
(2015). Genomic evidence of geographically widespread effect of gene flow from polar
bears into brown bears. Molecular ecology, 24(6), 1205-1217.
Edwards, C., Suchard, M., Lemey, P., Welch, J., Barnes, I., Fulton, T, & Shapiro, B. (2011).
Ancient hybridization and an irish origin for the modern polar bear matriline. Current
Biology, 21(15), 1251-1258. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/
article/pii/S0960982211006452
Galbreath, G., Hunt, M., Clements, T., & Waits , L. (2008). An apparent hybrid wild bear from
cambodia. Short Communication, 19(1), 85-86. Retrieved from http://
journals1.scholarsportal.info.cat1.lib.trentu.ca:8080/tmp/18378328785458811380.pdf
Hassanin, A. (2015). The role of Pleistocene glaciations in shaping the evolution of polar and
brown bears. Evidence from a critical review of mitochondrial and nuclear genome
analyses. Comptes Rendus Biologies.

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Lewontin, R., & Birch, L. (1996). Hybridization as a source of variation for adaptation to new
environments.20(3), 315-336. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/discover/
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