Brown Bear Evolution

[brobear]

www.flickr.com/photos/46944516@N00/48701472192 
 
Captive Brown Bear [Urso Pardo] (2019)
Lisbon Zoological garden, Sete Rios, Lisbon, Portugal

ABOUT THE BROWN BEAR

The brown bear (Ursus arctos) is a bear that is found across much of northern Eurasia and North America. In North America, the populations of brown bears are often called grizzly bears. It is one of the largest living terrestrial members of the order Carnivora, rivalled in size only by its closest relative, the polar bear (Ursus maritimus), which is much less variable in size and slightly larger on average.

The brown bear's principal range includes parts of Russia, Central Asia, China, Canada, the United States, Hokkaido, Scandinavia, and the Carpathian region, especially Romania, Anatolia and the Caucasus. The brown bear is recognized as a national and state animal in several European countries. 
 
While the brown bear's range has shrunk and it has faced local extinctions, it remains listed as a least concern species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) with a total population of approximately 200,000. As of 2012, this and the American black bear are the only bear species not classified as threatened by the IUCN. However, the California grizzly bear, Atlas bear and Mexican grizzly bear were hunted to extinction in the 19th and early 20th centuries and many of the southern Asian subspecies are highly endangered. One of the smaller-bodied subspecies, the Himalayan brown bear, is critically endangered, occupying only 2% of its former range and threatened by uncontrolled poaching for its body parts. The Marsican brown bear of central Italy is one of several currently isolated populations of the Eurasian brown bear and believed to have a population of just 40 to 50 bears.

EVOLUTION AND TAXONOMIC HISTORY

The brown bear is sometimes referred to as the bruin, from Middle English. This name originated in the fable, History of Reynard the Fox, translated by William Caxton, from Middle Dutch bruun or bruyn, meaning brown (the colour). In the mid-19th century the United States, the brown bear was termed "Old Ephraim" and sometimes as "Moccasin Joe". 
 
The scientific name of the brown bear, Ursus arctos, comes from the Latin "Ursus", meaning "bear", and ἄρκτος "arktos", from the Greek word forbear.

GENERALIZED BROWN BEAR NAMES AND EVOLUTION

Brown bears are thought to have evolved from Ursus Etruscans in Asia. The brown bear, per Kurten (1976), has been stated as "clearly derived from the Asian population of Ursus savini about 800,000 years ago; spread into Europe, to the New World." Genetic analysis indicated that the brown bear lineage diverged from the cave bear species complex approximately 1.2–1.4 million years ago, but did not clarify if U. Savini persisted as a para species for the brown bear before perishing. The oldest fossils positively identified as from this species occur in China from about 0.5 million years ago. Brown bears entered Europe about 250,000 years ago and North Africa shortly after. Brown bear remains from the Pleistocene period are common in the British Isles, where it is thought they might have outcompeted cave bears (Ursus spelaeus). The species entered Alaska 100,000 years ago, though they did not move south until 13,000 years ago. It is speculated that brown bears were unable to migrate south until the extinction of the much larger giant short-faced bear (Arctodus simus).

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Continued: Several palaeontologists suggest the possibility of two separate brown bear migrations: inland brown bears, also known as grizzlies, are thought to stem from narrow-skulled bears which migrated from northern Siberia to central Alaska and the rest of the continent, while Kodiak bears descend from broad-skulled bears from Kamchatka, which colonized the Alaskan peninsula. Brown bear fossils discovered in Ontario, Ohio, Kentucky and Labrador show the species occurred farther east than indicated in historic records. In North America, two types of the subspecies Ursus arctos horribilis are generally recognized—the coastal brown bear and the inland grizzly bear; these two types broadly define the range of sizes of all brown bear subspecies.

SCIENTIFIC BROWN BEAR TAXONOMY

There are many methods used by scientists to define bear species and subspecies as no one method is always effective. Brown bear taxonomy and subspecies classification have been described as "formidable and confusing" with few authorities listing the same specific set of subspecies. Genetic testing is now perhaps the most important way to scientifically define brown bear relationships and names. Generally, genetic testing uses the word clade rather than species because a genetic test alone cannot define a biological species. Most genetic studies report on how closely related the bears are (or their genetic distance). There are hundreds of obsolete brown bear subspecies, each with its own name, and this can become confusing; Hall (1981) lists 86 different types and even as many as 90 have been proposed. However, recent DNA analysis has identified as few as five main clades which contain all extant brown bears, while a 2017 phylogenetic study revealed nine clades, including one representing polar bears. As of 2005, 15 extant or recently extinct subspecies were recognized by the general scientific community.

As well as the exact number of overall brown bear subspecies, its precise relationship to the polar bear also remains in debate. The polar bear is a recent offshoot of the brown bear. The point at which the polar bear diverged from the brown bear is unclear, with estimations based on genetics and fossils ranging from 400,000 to 70,000 years ago, but most recent analysis has indicated that the polar bear split somewhere between 250,000 and 130,000 years ago. Under some definitions, the brown bear can be construed as the para species for the polar bear.

DNA analysis shows that, apart from recent human-caused population fragmentation, brown bears in North America are generally part of a single interconnected population system, with the exception of the population (or subspecies) in the Kodiak Archipelago, which has probably been isolated since the end of the last Ice Age. These data demonstrate that U. a. gyas, U. a. horribilis, U. a. sitkensis and U. a. stikeenensis are not distinct or cohesive groups, and would more accurately be described as ecotypes. For example, brown bears in any particular region of the Alaska coast are more closely related to adjacent grizzly bears than to distant populations of brown bears, the morphological distinction seemingly driven by brown bears having access to a rich salmon food source, while grizzly bears live at higher elevation, or further from the coast, where plant material is the base of the diet. The history of the bears of the Alexander Archipelago is unusual in that these island populations carry polar bear DNA, presumably originating from a population of polar bears that were left behind at the end of the Pleistocene, but have since been connected with adjacent mainland populations through movement of males, to the point where their nuclear genomes are now more than 90% of brown bear ancestry.

[brobear]

Continued: THE SUBSPECIES HAVE BEEN LISTED AS FOLLOWS:

PALEARCTIC REALM (EURASIA AND NORTH AFRICA)

URSUS ARCTOS ARCTOS – EURASIAN BROWN BEAR

Represents every population found in Europe as well as their range in western Russia and the Caucasus. May be found as far east in Russia as the Yenisei River in Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug to Novosibirsk Oblast in the south, where the subspecies intergrade into U. a. collars. A predominantly dark, richly brown coloured (with rare light-coloured individuals), moderately-sized subspecies with dark claws, the Eurasian brown bears occurring in Russia are larger than their European counterparts, which may be in part because they are hunted less.

URSUS ARCTOS BERINGIANUS – KAMCHATKA BROWN BEAR (OR FAR EASTERN BROWN BEAR)

Found in the coastal lands surrounding the Sea of Okhotsk down as far as the Shantar Islands, Kolyma, all the land around the Shelikhov Gulf, the Kamchatka Peninsula and Paramushir Island.

A very large bear with a broad muzzle. Overall has dark colouring, some animals appearing almost blackish-brown but will usually be paler at the top of the back. It may overlap with U. a. collars extensively a few miles inland. It is thought to be the ancestor of the polar bear, the Kodiak bear, and the peninsular brown bears of Alaska. Middendorf described it from Greater Shantar Island with its distribution range comprising the eastern coast of Siberia and Japan.

URSUS ARCTOS COLLARIS – EAST SIBERIAN BROWN BEAR

A majority of Siberia from the Yenisei River to as far south as the Altai Mountains in northern Mongolia, northernmost Xinjiang and northeastern Kazakhstan. Ranges as far north as the southwestern Taymyr Peninsula and the Anabar River. As the farthest east ranging of all Eurasian brown bear populations, it is found in Chukotka as far as the coast of the Bering Strait to the east and the coast of the Chukchi Sea in the north.

Most bears of this type are fairly dark, but some are as pale as grizzly bears. It is intermediate in size between U. a. arctos and U. a. beringianus, with a proportionately larger skull than the nominate subspecies. In the sub-Arctic region of Yakutia, bears are reportedly quite small compared to other regions.

[brobear]

Continued: URSUS ARCTOS CROWTHERI – †ATLAS BEAR (EXTINCT)

Habitat, while still extant, was the Atlas Mountains and adjacent areas in North Africa, from Morocco to Libya. The last surviving Atlas bear is thought to have been killed by hunters in 1890.

URSUS ARCTOS ISABELLINUS – HIMALAYAN BROWN BEAR

Northern Nepal, Northern and Northeastern India and Northern Pakistan, most continuous current range in Jammu and Kashmir.Quite distinctive physically, as it possesses a reddish-brown or sandy-brown coat colour with silver-tipped hairs and relatively large ears. This bear is smaller than most other brown bears found on the Asian continent. Prefers high altitude forests and alpine meadows. Critically Endangered.

URSUS ARCTOS PRUINOSUS – TIBETAN BLUE BEAR

Tibetan Plateau; some of the bears found in the Himalayas are reportedly actually wandering individuals from the more robustly populated Tibetan subspecies.[41][46]This is a moderately-sized subspecies with long, shaggy fur. Both dark- and light-colored variants are encountered, with intermediate colors predominating. The fur around the neck, chest and shoulders is yellowish-brown or whitish and frequently forms a collar which no other brown bear subspecies typically possesses in a mature state. Like the Himalayan brown bear, the ears are relatively prominent. The skull is distinguished by its relatively flattened choanae, an arch-like curve of the molar row and large teeth, probably in correlation to its, particularly carnivorous habits.[41]

Ursus arctos lasiotus – Ussuri brown bear (or Amur brown bear, black grizzly or horse bear)Ursus arctos lasiotus - Beijing Zoo 3.JPGRussia: the southern Kuril Islands, Sakhalin, the Maritime Territory and the Ussuri/Amur River region south of the Stanovoy Range, China (former Manchuria): Heilongjiang, Japan: Hokkaidō, Honshu (in the last glacial period), the Korean Peninsula: North Korea[41] Became extinct on Rebun and Rishiri Islands in the 13th century.[47]Ursus arctos lasiotus is quite variable in size. Skull dimensions from mainland Russia (i.e. the Primorsky and the Khabarovsk) indicate they can rival Kamchatka brown bears in size.[41][43] By contrast, the population found in Hokkaido is one of the smallest northern forms of the brown bear. Nonetheless, individuals from Hokkaido can reportedly get larger than expected and have reached 400 to 550 kg (880 to 1,210 lb).[48] in weight by feeding on cultivations.[49][50] This bear is thought to be the ancestor of U. a. horribilis.[17] It is perhaps the darkest-coloured population on average and some specimens are almost fully black in colour, although lighter brown and intermediate forms are known. Due to its colouring, this subspecies is sometimes informally referred to as the "black grizzly".

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Continued: Ursus arctos syriacus – Syrian brown bearUrsus arctos syriacus.jpgTranscaucasia, Iraq, Turkey (Asia Minor), Iran, western Afghanistan, eastern Lebanon, Pakistan, western Himalayas and the Pamir-Alay and Tien Shan mountains.[41] Despite a historical presence in Israel and the Syrian Arab Republic (the subspecies' namesake), it is believed to be extinct in these countries now.[1]The Syrian brown bear is a moderate- to small-sized subspecies with light claws. This population tends to be a whitish-blond color with less noticeable black-based hairs than grizzly bears have.[41]

Ursus arctos priscus – Steppe brown bear (extinct)UnavailableEurasiaThe steppe brown bear was a extinct prehistoric brown bear subspecies that lived in places like Slovakia.

Nearctic realm (North America)[edit]

Subspecies nameImageDistributionDescription/comments

Ursus arctos californicus – †California grizzly bear (extinct)Monarch the bear.jpgCalifornia, mainly in the Sierra Nevadas and some areas of coastal California.The last known California grizzly bear was shot in California in 1922. Museum specimens illustrate that this population was golden-blonde overall typically without the contrasting black fur base of true grizzly bears. It also appeared to have been considerably larger, with a broader muzzle than true grizzly bears.[51]

Ursus arctos dalli – Dall Island brown bearDall Island, Alaska.Poorly described; possibly merely a coastal variation of other North American brown bears, but any such alliance is genetically ambiguous.[52][53]

Ursus arctos gyas – Alaska Peninsula brown bearBrown bear.jpgCoastal Alaska from the Aleutian Islands as far west as Unimak, the Alaska Peninsula to the Kenai Peninsula.Considered by some biologists to be the same subspecies as U. a. middendorffi.[54] Based on known size of adult males, if it is a true subspecies, it may match or exceed the Kodiak bear in size.[55][56]

Ursus arctos horribilis – Grizzly bearGrizzly Bear Yellowstone.jpgMost of Alaska, Yukon, the Northwest Territories, British Columbia, western Alberta, northern Idaho, western Montana, and northwestern Wyoming.The grizzly bear is identified by a medium to dark brown coat with gray or blond "grizzled" tips on the fur, which contrast with the black base. Highly variable in size, based largely on environmental conditions.[57] It is also highly adaptable: it can live in montane pine forests, temperate rainforest, semi-arid scrubland, tundra and shortgrass prairie.[58]

Ursus arctos middendorffi – Kodiak bearBear Square.JPGKodiak, Afognak and Shuyak Islands (Alaska), arguably includes other coastal Alaskan forms, which occur in most of the coasts of the western and southern parts of the state.This is the largest distinct subspecies of the brown bear, though the coastal-living members of other brown bear subspecies potentially rival it in size. It is medium-hued, typically not as dark as most forms from eastern Asia, but distinctly darker than grizzly bears.

Ursus arctos sitkensis – Sitka brown bearSitka brown bear.jpgAdmiralty Island, Baranof Island and Chichagof Island, the "ABC Islands" of Alaska.Appearing to be more closely related to the polar bear than to other brown bears, although it is on average the most dark-colored population in North America, with similar body size to grizzly bears from interior Alaska.[38][53] This subspecies is called "clade II" by Waits and others and is part of the former subspecies identified as U. a. sitkensis by Hall and as U. a. dalli by Kurtén.

Ursus arctos stikeenensis – Stickeen brown bearNorthwestern British Columbia[59] from the Stikine River to the Skeena River.[60]Variously recognised as a distinct subspecies[30][59] or as belonging to the subspecies U. a. horribilis.[38][51] Larger than most other grizzly bear populations, with males approaching the great bears of coastal Alaska in size.[61][62]

Ursus arctos (Ungava population) – †Ungava brown bear (extinct)Ungava Cabot 1910 Cropped.jpgNorthern Quebec and Labrador[63]Historical reports of brown bears in Quebec were typically dismissed by modern biologists. In 1975, anthropologist Steven Cox discovered a brown bear skull in Labrador, confirming that the population did once exist.[64]

Hybrids[edit]

Main article: Grizzly–polar bear hybrid

A grizzly–polar bear hybrid (known either as a pizzly bear or a grolar bear) is a rare ursid hybrid resulting from a crossbreeding of a brown bear and a polar bear. It has occurred both in captivity and in the wild. In 2006, the occurrence of this hybrid in nature was confirmed by testing the DNA of a strange-looking bear that had been shot in the Canadian Arctic, and seven more hybrids have since been confirmed in the same region, all descended from a single female polar bear.[65] Previously, the hybrid had been produced in zoos and was considered a "cryptid" (a hypothesized animal for which there is no scientific proof of existence in the wild).

Analyses of the genomes of bears have shown that introgression between species was widespread during the evolution of the genus Ursus,[66][67][68] including the introgression of polar bear DNA introduced to brown bears during the Pleistocene.

[brobear]

Continued:

Formerly considered subspecies[edit]

Former

subspecies nameImageDistributionDescription

Ursus arctos gobiensis – Gobi bearUrsus arctos gobiensis.jpgGobi DesertAn extremely rare bear found in the Gobi Desert, this bear is adapted to desert life, dwelling in oases and rocky outcrops. It is rather small and pale and it appears to lack the whitish collar characteristic of Tibetan blue bears.[69][70] Phylogenetic analysis suggests they represent a relict population of the Himalayan brown bear.[71][29] At one time, Gobi bears probably overlapped and possibly interbred with Tibetan blue bears in western China, but the bears are now extinct in this area.[72]

Ursus arctos marsicanus – Marsican brown bear or Apennine brown bear[73]Orso bruno marsicano.jpgMarsica, central ItalyThere are an estimated 40 to 50 bears remaining in the Marsican area. This is an unrecognized subspecies that is now considered to be a population of the nominate subspecies.[30]

Ursus arctos nelsoni – †Mexican grizzly bear (extinct)Mexico grizzlies.pngThe smallest North American brown bear, formerly from northern Mexico, including Chihuahua, Coahuila and Sonora and southwestern United States, including the southern regions of Arizona, New Mexico and TexasThis bear is believed to have been hunted to extinction due to its interference with cattle ranching in both the United States and Mexico. Scarce by the 1930s, the last recorded sighting was in 1962.[74] Distinct in its ability to survive arid conditions, it could live in both montane pine forests of Mexico and canyonlands adjacent to the Sonoran Desert.

Ursus arctos pyrenaicus – Cantabrian brown bear or Iberian brown bear, now considered to be the same subspecies as the Eurasian brown bear (Ursus arctos arctos)See photographs in Eroski article (in Spanish, also available in Catalan, Basque and Galician) and in Fauna Ibérica. Oso pardo ibérico (Ursus arctos pyrenaicus), in SpanishIberian Peninsula, primarily the Cantabrian Mountains and hills in Galicia, and the Pyrenees.[75] Rare, sporadic sightings in northern Portugal.[76]Until recently, this bear was considered a separate subspecies. Today, it is considered to belong to the subspecies U. a. arctos. Scientific evidence based on DNA studies would furthermore indicate the Eurasian brown bear can be divided into two distinct lineages. "There is a clear division into two main mitochondrial lineages in modern Eurasian brown bear populations. These populations are divided into those carrying an eastern lineage (clade IIIa, Leonard et al. 2000), which is composed of Russian, northern Scandinavian and eastern European populations, and those carrying a western lineage (clade I, Leonard et al. 2000), which is composed of two subgroups, one believed to originate from the Iberian Peninsula, including southern Scandinavian bears and the Pyrenean populations; and the other from the Italian–Balkan peninsulas (Taberlet et al. 1994; see however Kohn et al. 1995). In addition, based on the subfossil record in northwestern Moldova and mitochondrial DNA data from modern populations, a Carpathian refuge has also been proposed (Sommer & Benecke 2005; Saarma et al. 2007)."[77]

[brobear]

Continued: The Cantabrian brown bear is the largest wild animal on the Iberian Peninsula, although it is also one of the smallest of the brown bears, weighing between 92 and 180 kg (203 and 397 lb) as an adult.[78] Its fur varies from pale cream to dark brown, but always with a distinctively darker, nearly black tone at the paws and a yellowish tinge at the tip of each hair. The Cantabrian brown bear population in Spain is considered endangered.

The Cantabrian brown bear population in the Pyrenees stems mostly from bears reintroduced from Slovenia, with one or two remaining original males.

*Much More to read on site: domainofthebears.proboards.com/thread/833/brown-bear-evolution?page=1&scrollTo=27282

[brobear]

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

What is a polar bear?
Evolutionarily speaking, polar bears (Ursus maritimus) are brown bears (Ursus arctos). That might seem counterintuitive, but modern biologists classify species according to their evolutionary history. Organisms that are more closely related are grouped together. In this system, only clades — groups of organisms that contain all the descendents of an ancestor — are named. When we look at the family tree of bears, we can see that not only are polar bears most closely related to brown bears, but they actually fall within the brown bear clade. There is no clade that includes all the brown bears and excludes the polar bears. From an evolutionary perspective, polar bears are simply a unique and highly specialized sort of brown bear!

[brobear]

royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rspb.2017.1804

Evolutionary history of enigmatic bears in the Tibetan Plateau–Himalaya region and the identity of the yeti.

Tianying Lan, Stephanie Gill, Eva Bellemain, Richard Bischof, Muhammad Ali Nawaz and Charlotte Lindqvist
Published:29 November 2017https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2017.1804
Abstract:
Although anecdotally associated with local bears (Ursus arctos and U. thibetanus), the exact identity of ‘hominid’-like creatures important to folklore and mythology in the Tibetan Plateau–Himalaya region is still surrounded by mystery. Recently, two purported yeti samples from the Himalayas showed genetic affinity with an ancient polar bear, suggesting they may be from previously unrecognized, possibly hybrid, bear species, but this preliminary finding has been under question. We conducted a comprehensive genetic survey of field-collected and museum specimens to explore their identity and ultimately infer the evolutionary history of bears in the region. Phylogenetic analyses of mitochondrial DNA sequences determined clade affinities of the purported yeti samples in this study, strongly supporting the biological basis of the yeti legend to be local, extant bears. Complete mitochondrial genomes were assembled for Himalayan brown bear (U. a. isabellinus) and black bear (U. t. laniger) for the first time. Our results demonstrate that the Himalayan brown bear is one of the first-branching clades within the brown bear lineage, while Tibetan brown bears diverged much later. The estimated times of divergence of the Tibetan Plateau and Himalayan bear lineages overlap with Middle to Late Pleistocene glaciation events, suggesting that extant bears in the region are likely descendants of populations that survived in local refugia during the Pleistocene glaciations.

[brobear]

1. Introduction
The Tibetan Plateau, the most extensive and highest plateau in the world with an average altitude of 4500 m above sea level, is partly surrounded by the Himalayan range and many of Earth's highest mountains. Dramatic environmental changes caused by the uplift of the plateau and climatic oscillations during the Quaternary glaciations substantially impacted the evolution, diversification, and distribution of local plant and animal species [1]. Because of its heterogeneous habitat and topography, the region sustains a distinct biome with rich biological diversity and high level of endemism [2]. Extant plants and animals on the plateau are likely either descendants of relict colonists that migrated from other areas or recently derived endemic species [3–10]. However, the colonization and population expansion history of many species remains poorly understood, despite current and future impacts of climate change and anthropogenic threats to diversity loss.

Two brown bear subspecies, the Himalayan (Ursus arctos isabellinus) and the Tibetan (U. a. pruinosus) brown bear, inhabit the northwestern Himalayan region and southeastern Tibetan Plateau, respectively [11–14] (figure 1). These two subspecies have distinct skull features and the Himalayan brown bear is characterized by its paler and reddish-brown fur, while the Tibetan brown bear has generally darker fur with a developed, white ‘collar’ around the neck [11]. As the most widely distributed bear in the world, phylogeography of the brown bear has been well studied in North America, Europe and Japan [10,16–24]. However, due to limited sampling, very few studies have been conducted on these enigmatic subspecies. Two complete mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes) from captive Tibetan brown bears are available, while only two short fragments of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences from the Himalayan brown bear have been published [10,15]. Phylogenetic analyses based on these sequences suggested that the Tibetan brown bear might be a relict population of the Eurasian brown bear [10], and that the Himalayan brown bear, which is genetically distinct from the Tibetan brown bear, may represent a more ancient lineage [15]. However, phylogenetic relationships deduced from limited genetic data and number of individuals have put these preliminary findings into question. For example, the phylogenetic placement of a Gobi brown bear (U. a. gobiensis) sequence [25] was inconsistent with a later study also including sequences from Himalayan brown bear [15], and phylogenetic trees based on mtDNA control region and cytochrome b sequences, respectively, of the Tibetan brown bear were incongruent [26]. The other bear species found to inhabit the Tibetan Plateau–Himalaya region is the Asian black bear (U. thibetanus), which historically had a continuous distribution from southeastern Iran through Afghanistan and Pakistan to India, Nepal, China, Korea, Japan, and south into Myanmar and the Malayan peninsula [12,27,28]. Today it occupies a patchy distribution throughout its historic range, including across a narrow band from Pakistan, Kashmir and to Bhutan, the home range of the Himalayan black bear (U. t. laniger) [27,29], which was described as distinguished from other black bear populations by its longer, thicker fur and smaller, whiter chest mark [11]. Although the range of Asian black bear overlaps with brown bear in the Tibetan Plateau–Himalaya region, it is mostly found at lower altitudes in forested hills ranging from 1200 to 3300 m [12,29]. So far, little is known about the evolutionary history of black bear in the region and no sequence data are available from the Himalayan black bear. To elucidate the evolutionary and migration history of the Himalayan and Tibetan bears, more genetic data from additional individuals are critically needed.

It has been reported that the brown bear populations in the Tibetan Plateau–Himalaya region have declined by more than half in the past century because of habitat loss, fragmentation, poaching and intense hunting by humans [12,29–31]. Facing the same threats as brown bears, Asian black bear populations have also decreased in the past few decades [29,32,33]. The Himalayan brown bear is listed in the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) red list of threatened species as critically endangered [34], while the Asian black bear is listed as vulnerable [27]. Hence, clarifying population structure and genetic diversity for conservation management purposes is also urgently needed for these endangered bear species.

[brobear]

Continued: The Tibetan Plateau–Himalaya region is also known for the legend of purported ‘hominid’-like creatures, referred to as the ‘yeti’, ‘chemo’, ‘mheti’ or ‘bharmando’, among other regional monikers (for simplicity they are referred to in this paper as yeti). Despite decades of research and anecdotal association with bears and other mammals in the region [35,36], the species identity of the mysterious yeti is still debated, given the lack of conclusive evidence. A survey of hair samples attributed to yeti and other anomalous, supposed primates, was recently conducted to identify their genetic affinities [37]. Based on a short fragment of the mtDNA 12S rRNA gene from two samples collected in Ladakh, India and Bhutan, respectively, and a 100% match to a sequence recovered from a subfossil polar bear [38], Sykes et al. [37] speculated that an unclassified bear species or hybrid of polar bear and brown bear might be present in the Tibetan Plateau–Himalaya region. However, this speculation was critiqued by others [39,40], and their phylogenetic analyses using the sequences from Sykes et al. and other available Ursidae sequences did not rule out the possibility that the samples belonged to brown bear. Thus, to get accurate species identification, comprehensive phylogenetic analyses using genetic information from more variable and informative loci are needed.

Here, we report on new analyses of 24 field-collected and museum specimens, including hair, bone, skin and faecal samples, collected from bears or purported yetis in the Tibetan Plateau–Himalaya region. Based on both amplified mtDNA loci as well as complete mitogenomes, we reconstructed maternal phylogenies to increase knowledge about the phylogenetic relationships and evolutionary history of Himalayan and Tibetan bears.

2. Material and methods
(a) Samples
A total of 24 samples, including hair, tissue, bone and faeces, were analysed in this study (electronic supplementary material, table S1). Of these, 12 samples had been collected for a previous analysis of Himalayan brown bear in the Khunjerab National Park, Northern Pakistan [30], two samples were from purported Himalayan brown bears housed in the Lahore and Islamabad Zoos, one bone sample (M-70448) recorded as U. a. pruinosus was obtained from the American Museum of Natural History, and nine samples were provided to us by the Reinhold Messner Museum and the Icon Film Company.

( Much More Reading On-Site ).

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5. Conclusion
Samples collected in the field and archived in museum or private collections can significantly aid in our understanding of the genetic variation and phylogeographic patterns of rare and widespread species. To determine accurate species identification and clade affinity, however, phylogenetically informative genetic markers and appropriate phylogenetic analyses are critically needed. Based on a BLAST search using a 104 bp fragment of the mitochondrial 12S rRNA locus, which gave a 100% match to a complete mitogenome recovered from a subfossil polar bear [38], Sykes et al. [37] suggested that a previously unrecognized bear species or possibly a hybrid between brown bear and polar bear exists in the Himalayas. However, as also demonstrated by others [39,40], the short 12S rRNA gene fragment is insufficiently informative to determine precise taxonomic identity, particularly among closely related species, although it can be a useful screening marker to assess preliminary species affinities. We isolated DNA and assembled a complete mitogenome from a hair sample (collected in Ladakh, India, and named ‘YHB’ in this study), which based on their shared collection locality and other anecdotal evidence obtained from Icon Films, our sample source, may come from the same specimen that Sykes et al. [37] speculated represents an unknown or hybrid bear. Here, we unambiguously show that this sample is from a bear that groups with extant Himalayan brown bear. Similarly, we were able to determine the clade affinities of all other purported yeti samples in this study and infer their well-supported and resolved phylogenetic relationships among extant bears in the Tibetan Plateau and surrounding Himalayan Mountains. This study represents the most rigorous analysis to date of samples suspected to derive from anomalous or mythical ‘hominid’-like creatures, strongly suggesting that the biological basis of the yeti legend is local brown and black bears.

[brobear]

Ursus arctos taubacbensis - Absolutely nothing known ( to me ) about this bear other than they existed in Europe during the late Pleistocene. 

[brobear]

www.researchgate.net/publication/282559099_Fossil_brown_bears_of_Slovakia

The fossil remains of bears are very frequently found in the karst sediments of the Western Carpathians. Besides cave bears, two taxa of fossil brown bears (Ursus taubacbensis, Ursus arctos priscus) have been present in the Slovak territory during the Late Pleistocene Period too. Recent European brown bear (Ursus arctos arctos) is appearing in the Western Carpathians Mountains at the beginning of the Holocene or already at the end of the Pleistocene Period respectively. So far, osteological remains of arctoid bears have been described from 23 Slovak localities. The most frequently, these remains belong to the taxon Ursus arctos ssp. or to the recent subspecies Ursus arctos arctos. The fossil findings of brown bears from the Late Pleistocene are less frequent. 
   

Comenius University in Bratislava - January 2001. 

[OldGreenGrolar]

Nothing much I can find either. This bear probably lived along side the capathian brown bear once upon a time.

[King Kodiak]

Nothing either. Most likely just the Pleistocene Carpathian brown bear which is just a population of the European brown bear. That subspecies name (taubacbensis) was most likely removed.

[brobear]

ielc.libguides.com/sdzg/factsheets/brownbear/taxonomy

Phylogeny (Krause 2008) (Yu et al 2007)

Origins of the Ursidae family: 15-20 million years ago (mid-Miocene)
Brown Bears (includes Grizzly Bears) and Polar Bears diverged from the Black and Sun Bears in the last 6.1 million years ago (Pliocene)
An ancestor of Brown and Polar Bears diverged from the European Cave Bears (U. spelaeus) around 1.6 million years ago. (Bon et al 2008)
Cave Bears are sister to a clade of Brown and Polar Bears (Agnarsson et al 2010)
Estimates vary widely for timing of Brown Bear and Polar Bears divergence (Lindqvist et al 2010)
1,320,000 to 200,000 years ago.
First Brown Bears lived in China, about 500,000 years ago (Pasitschniak-Arts 1993)
Brown Bears and Cave Bears lived at the same time in Europe beginning about 250,000 years ago (Pasitschniak-Arts 1993)
Brown Bears replaced Cave Bears in Great Britain about 10,000 years ago
Brown Bears first appeared 50-70,000 years ago in eastern Beringia (land bridge between Siberia and Alaska during Pleistocene Ice Ages) (Leonard et al 2000)
By about 36,000 years ago three main clades of brown bears in Beringia.
From Beringia, Brown Bears spread into Canada, Alaska, and the lower U.S.
Appeared in lower U.S. 13,000 years ago, at end of last Ice Age when ice-free corridor available.
Polar Bears are closest relatives of Brown Bears.
Polar-Bear/Grizzly hybrids are fertile (Davis 1950)

[brobear]

May 16, 2020 18:46:23 GMT -5 King Kodiak said:

Nothing either. Most likely just the Pleistocene Carpathian brown bear which is just a population of the European brown bear. That subspecies name (taubacbensis) was most likely removed.

Reply #1: I added: Comenius University in Bratislava - January 2001. 
 
19 years ago. Evidently an obscure extinct bear that little is known about. 

[brobear]

www.researchgate.net/topic/Carpathians/publications/95 - Fossil brown bears of Slovakia - Jan 2001

The fossil remains of bears are very frequently found in the karst sediments of the Western Carpathians. Besides cave bears, two taxa of fossil brown bears (Ursus taubacbensis, Ursus arctos priscus) have been present in the Slovak territory during the Late Pleistocene Period too. Recent European brown bear (Ursus arctos arctos) is appearing in the...

[brobear]

By tigerluver - wildfact.com/forum/topic-bears-of-the-pleistocene?pid=116979#pid116979

That is a synonym for fossil brown bears and might be a superfluous classification rather than a valid taxa. To quote Marciszak et al. (2015):

"Fossil European brown bears were described by many authors under different names (e.g. Ursus ferox, taubachensis, horribilis etc.) (see Erdbrink, 1953 and reference therein; Pacher, 2007). Erdbrink (1953: 321) noted: “No other bear has been the cause of so much nomenclatorial confusion and general controversy”. The taxonomical nature of the Pleistocene bears was widely discussed by e.g. Erdbrink (1953) and Pacher (2007), and in general point of view authors agree with Baryshnikov and Boeskorov (2004) and Baryshnikov (2007) in recognition of three different fossil brown bear forms."

It seems generally U. taubachensis specimens are part of U. priscus or U. artcos.

I've attached three papers that shed light on the topic.Reply

wildfact.com/forum/attachment.php?aid=3904
wildfact.com/forum/attachment.php?aid=3905
wildfact.com/forum/attachment.php?aid=3906

The type specimen of Ursus priscus GOLDFUSS, 1818 and the uncertain
status of Late Pleistocene brown bears