Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Polar Bear Taxonomy and Evolution

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Ethology and Behavioral Ecology of Sea Otters and Polar Bears

Part of the book series: Ethology and Behavioral Ecology of Marine Mammals ((EBEMM))

Abstract

Polar bears are members of the family Ursidae and are closely related to brown bears. Since their divergence from brown bears ~400 Kya, polar bears have evolved from terrestrial omnivores into marine carnivores in the Arctic sea ice environment. The genetic basis of these adaptations remains poorly understood, but several genes have been identified that may have facilitated the dietary transition. Despite their dramatically different ecological niches, hybridization between polar and brown bears is common. However, it has not affected polar bear diversity because gene flow has been exclusively from polar bears into brown bears (i.e., unidirectional introgression). Despite low genetic diversity, polar bear abundance is not at risk from inbreeding depression based on their long history of stable population size. Polar bear subpopulations are divided into management groups that roughly correspond to a combination of ecologic, genetic , and national boundaries, but some biological population structure is present.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 149.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Agnarsson I, Kuntner M, May-Collado LJ (2010) Dogs, cats, and kin: a molecular species-level phylogeny of Carnivora. Mol Phylogenet Evol 54:726–745

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Barlow A, Cahill JA, Hartmann S, Theunert C, Xenikoudakis G, Fortes GG, Paijmans JLA, Rabeder G, Frischauf C, Grandal-d’Anglade A, García-Vázquez A, Murtskhvaladze M, Saarma U, Anijalg P, Skrbinšek T, Bertorelle G, Gasparian B, Bar-Oz G, Pinhasi R, Slatkin M, Dalén L, Shapiro B, Hofreiter M (2018) Partial genomic survival of cave bears in living brown bears. Nat Ecol Evol 2:1563–1570

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Barnes I, Matheus P, Shapiro B, Jensen D, Cooper A (2002) Dynamics of Pleistocene population extinctions in Beringian brown bears. Science 295:2267–2270

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Benazzo A, Trucchi E, Cahill JA, Delser PM, Mona S, Fumagalli M, Bunnefeld L, Cornetti L, Ghirotto S, Girardi M, Ometto L, Panziera A, Rota-Stabelli O, Zanetti E, Karamanlidis A, Groff C, Paule L, Gentile L, Vilà C, Vicario S, Boitani L, Orlando L, Fuselli S, Vernesi C, Shapiro B, Ciucci P, Bertorelle G (2017) Survival and divergence in a small group: the extraordinary genomic history of the endangered Apennine brown bear stragglers. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 114:E9589–E9597

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Bininda-Emonds ORP, Gittleman JL, Purvis A (1999) Building large trees by combining phylogenetic information: a complete phylogeny of the extant Carnivora (Mammalia). Biol Rev 74:143–175

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cahill JA, Green RE, Fulton TL, Stiller M, Jay F, Ovsyanikov N, Salamzade R, St. John J, Stirling I, Slatkin M, Shapiro B (2013) Genomic evidence for island population conversion resolves conflicting theories of polar bear evolution. PLoS Genet 9:e1003345

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Cahill JA, Stirling I, Kistler L, Salamzade R, Ersmark E, Fulton TL, Stiller M, Green RE, Shapiro B (2015) Genomic evidence of geographically widespread effect of gene flow from polar bears into brown bears. Mol Ecol 24:1205–1217

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Cahill JA, Heintzman PD, Harris K, Teasdale MD, Kapp J, Soares AER, Stirling I, Bradley D, Edwards CJ, Graim K, Kisleika AA, Malev AV, Monaghan N, Green RE, Shapiro B (2018) Genomic evidence of widespread admixture from polar bears into brown bears during the last ice age. Mol Biol Evol 35:1120–1129

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cronin MA, Amstrup SC, Garner GW, Vyse ER (1991) Interspecific and intraspecific mitochondrial DNA variation in North American bears (Ursus). Can J Zool 69:2985–2992

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Currat M, Ruedi M, Petit RJ, Excoffier L (2008) The hidden side of invasions: massive introgression by local genes. Evolution 62:1908–1920

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Davis RW (2019) Marine mammals: adaptations for an aquatic life. Springer, Cham, 302 p

    Google Scholar 

  • Delisle I, Strobeck C (2005) A phylogeny of the Caniformia (order Carnivora) based on 12 complete protein-coding mitochondrial genes. Mol Phylogenet Evol 37:192–201

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Edwards CJ, Suchard MA, Lemey P, Welch JJ, Barnes I, Fulton TL, Barnett R, O’Connell TC, Coxon P, Monaghan N, Valdiosera CE, Lorenzen ED, Willerslev E, Baryshnikov GF, Rambaut A, Thomas MG, Bradley DG, Shapiro B (2011) Ancient hybridization and an Irish origin for the modern polar bear matriline. Curr Biol 21:1251–1258

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Eizirik E, Murphy WJ, Koepfli K, Johnson WE, Dragoo JW, Wayne RK, O’Brien SJ (2010) Pattern and timing of diversification of the mammalian order Carnivora inferred from multiple nuclear gene sequences. Mol Phylogenet Evol 56:49–63

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Figueirido B, Soibelzon LH (2010) Inferring palaeoecology in extinct tremarctine bears (Carnivora, Ursidae) using geometric morphometrics. Lethaia 43:209–222

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Flynn JJ, Finarelli JA, Zehr S, Hsu J, Nedbal MA (2005) Molecular phylogeny of the carnivora (Mammalia): assessing the impact of increased sampling on resolving enigmatic relationships. Syst Biol 54:317–337

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fulton TL, Strobeck C (2006) Molecular phylogeny of the Arctoidea (Carnivora): effect of missing data on supertree and supermatrix analyses of multiple gene data sets. Mol Phylogenet Evol 41:165–181

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Goldman D, Giri PR, O’Brien SJ (1989) Molecular genetic-distance estimates among the Ursidae as indicated by one-and two-dimensional protein electrophoresis. Evolution 43:282–295

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Green RE, Krause J, Briggs AW, Maricic T, Stenzel U, Kircher M, Patterson N, Li H, Zhai W, Fritz MH, Hansen NF, Durand EY, Malaspinas A, Jensen JD, Marques-Bonet T, Alkan C, Prüfer K, Meyer M, Burbano HA, Good JM, Schultz R, Aximu-Petri A, Butthof A, Höber B, Höffner B, Siegemund M, Weihmann A, Nusbaum C, Lander ES, Russ C, Novod N, Affourtit J, Egholm M, Verna C, Rudan P, Brajkovic D, Kucan Ž, Gušic I, Doronichev VB, Golovanova LV, Lalueza-Fox C, de la Rasilla M, Fortea J, Rosas A, Schmitz RW, Johnson PLF, Eichler EE, Falush D, Birney E, Mullikin JC, Slatkin M, Nielsen R, Kelso J, Lachmann M, Reich D, Pääbo S (2010) A draft sequence of the Neandertal genome. Science 328:710–722

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Gutiérrez-Gil B, Wiener P, Williams JL (2007) Genetic effects on coat colour in cattle: dilution of eumelanin and phaeomelanin pigments in an F2-Backcross Charolais x Holstein population. BMC Genet 8:56

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hailer F, Kutschera VE, Hallström BM, Klassert D, Fain SR, Leonard JA, Arnason U, Janke A (2012) Nuclear genomic sequences reveal that polar bears are an old and distinct bear lineage. Science 336:344–347

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Harris K, Nielsen R (2016) The genetic cost of Neanderthal introgression. Genetics 203:881–891

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Ingόlfsson Ó, Wiig Ø (2009) Late Pleistocene fossil find in Svalbard: the oldest remains of a polar bear (Ursus maritimus Phipps, 1744) ever discovered. Polar Res 28:455–462

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krause J, Unger T, Noçon A, Malaspinas A, Kolokotronis S, Stiller M, Soibelzon L, Spriggs H, Dear PH, Briggs AW, Bray SCE, O’Brien SJ, Rabeder G, Matheus P, Cooper A, Slatkin M, Pääbo S, Hofreiter M (2008) Mitochondrial genomes reveal an explosive radiation of extinct and extant bears near the Miocene-Pliocene boundary. BMC Evol Biol 8:220

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kumar V, Lammers F, Bidon T, Pfenninger M, Kolter L, Nilsson MA, Janke A (2017) The evolutionary history of bears is characterized by gene flow across species. Sci Rep 7:46487

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Kurtén B (1964) The evolution of the polar bear, Ursus maritimus Phipps. Acta Zool Fenn 108:1–30

    Google Scholar 

  • Laidre KL, Born EW, Atkinson SN, Wiig Ø, Andersen LW, Lunn NJ, Dyck M, Regehr EV, McGovern R, Heagerty P (2018) Range contraction and increasing isolation of a polar bear subpopulation in an era of sea-ice loss. Ecol Evol 8(4):2062–2075

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Lindqvist C, Shuster SC, Sun Y, Talbot SL, Qi J, Ratan A, Tomsho LP, Kasson L, Zeyl E, Aars J, Miller W, Ingólfsson Ó, Bachmann L, Wiig Ø (2010) Complete mitochondrial genome of a Pleistocene jawbone unveils the origin of polar bear. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 107:5053–5057

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Liu S, Lorenzen ED, Fumagalli M, Li B, Harris K, Xiong Z, Zhou L, Korneliussen TS, Somel M, Babbitt C, Wray G, Li J, He W, Wang Z, Fu W, Xiang X, Morgan CC, Doherty A, O’Connell MJ, McInerney JO, Born EW, Dalén L, Rietz R, Orlando L, Sonne C, Zhang G, Nielsen R, Willerslev E, Wang J (2014) Population genomics reveal recent speciation and rapid evolutionary adaptation in polar bears. Cell 157:785–794

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Miller W, Schuster SC, Welch AJ, Ratan A, Bedoya-Reina OC, Zhao F, Kim HL, Burhans RC, Drautz DI, Wittekindt NE, Tomsho LP, Ibarra-Laclette E, Herrera-Estrella L, Peacock E, Farley S, Sage GK, Rode K, Obbard M, Montiel R, Bachmann L, Ingólfsson O, Aars J, Mailund T, Wiig Ø, Talbot SL, Lindqvist C (2012) Polar and brown bear genomes reveal ancient admixture and demographic footprints of past climate change. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 109:E2382–E2390

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Nyakatura K, Bininda-Emonds ORP (2012) Updating the evolutionary history of Carnivora (Mammalia): a new species-level supertree complete with divergence time estimates. BMC Biol 10:12

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Paetkau D, Shields GF, Strobeck C (1998) Gene flow between insular, coastal and interior populations of brown bears in Alaska. Mol Ecol 7:1283–1292

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Paetkau D, Amstrup SC, Born EW, Calvert W, Derocher AE, Garner GW, Messier F, Stirling I, Taylor MK, Wiig Ø, Strobeck C (1999) Genetic structure of the world’s polar bear populations. Mol Ecol 8:1571–1584

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Peacock E, Sonsthagen SA, Obbard ME, Boltunov A, Regehr EV, Ovsyanikov N, Aars J, Atkinson SN, Sage GK, Hope AG, Zeyl E, Bachmann L, Ehrich D, Scribner KT, Amstrup SC, Belikov S, Born EW, Derocher AE, Stirling I, Taylor MK, Paetkau D, Talbot SL (2015) Implications of the circumpolar genetic structure of polar bears for their conservation in a rapidly warming Arctic. PLoS One 10:e11021

    Google Scholar 

  • Phipps CJ (1774) A voyage towards the North Pole undertaken by his majesty’s command, 1773. Nourse, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Pongracz JD, Paetkau D, Branigan M, Richardson E (2017) Recent hybridization between a polar bear and grizzly bears in the Canadian Arctic. Arctic 70:151–160

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Preuß A, Gansloßer U, Purschke G, Magiera U (2009) Bear-hybrids: behaviour and phenotype. Der Zool Garten 78:204–220

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rinker DC, Specian NK, Zhao S, Gibbons JG (2019) Polar bear evolution is marked by rapid changes in gene copy number in response to dietary shift. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 116:13446–13451

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Schliebe S, Wiig Ø, Derocher AE, Lunn NJ (2008) Ursus maritimus (Polar Bear). In: IUCN Red List Threat. Species Version 20152

    Google Scholar 

  • Shields GF, Kocher TD (1991) Phylogenetic relationships of North American ursids based on analysis of mitochondrial DNA. Evolution 45:218–221

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stirling I (2011) Polar bears: the natural history of a threatened species. Fitzhenry & Whiteside Ltd, Markham, ON

    Google Scholar 

  • Talbot SL, Shields GF (1996) Phylogeography of brown bears (Ursus arctos) of Alaska and paraphyly within the Ursidae. Mol Phylogenet Evol 5:477–494

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Trent JM, Stanbridge EJ, McBride HL, Meese EU, Casey G, Araujo DE, Witkowski CM, Nagle RB (1990) Tumorigenicity in human melanoma cell lines controlled by introduction of human chromosome 6. Science 247:568–571

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Waits LP, Talbot SL, Ward RH, Shields GF (1998) Mitochondrial DNA phylogeography of the North American brown bear and implications for conservation. Conserv Biol 12:408–417

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wayne RK, Van Valkenburgh B, O’Brien SJ (1991) Molecular distance and divergence time in carnivores and primates. Mol Biol Evol 8:297–319

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Weber DS, Van Coeverden de Groot PJ, Peacock E, Schrenzel MD, Perez DA, Thomas S, Shelton JM, Else CK, Darby LL, Acosta L, Harris C, Youngblood J, Boag P, Desalle R (2013) Low MHC variation in the polar bear: implications in the face of Arctic warming? Anim Conserv 16:671–683

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whitfield AJ, Barrett PHR, Van Bockxmeer FM, Burnett JR (2004) Lipid disorders and mutations in the APOB gene. Clin Chem 50:1725–1732

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Yu L, Li QW, Ryder OA, Zhang YP (2004) Phylogeny of the bears (Ursidae) based on nuclear and mitochondrial genes. Mol Phylogenet Evol 32:480–494

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zeyl E, Aars J, Ehrich D, Wiig Ø (2009) Families in space: relatedness in the Barents Sea population of polar bears (Ursus maritimus). Mol Ecol 18:735–749

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

I thank A. Pagano and R. Davis for their support and editing of this chapter. I also am also grateful to the broader polar bear genomics community for providing and sharing extensive genomic resources that have advanced the field greatly in recent years.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Engineering School of Sustainable Infrastructure and Environment, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA

    James A. Cahill

Authors
  1. James A. Cahill
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Marine Biology, Texas A&M University, Galveston, TX, USA

    Randall W. Davis

  2. San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, San Diego, CA, USA

    Anthony M. Pagano

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2021 This is a U.S. government work and not under copyright protection in the U.S.; foreign copyright protection may apply

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Cahill, J.A. (2021). Polar Bear Taxonomy and Evolution. In: Davis, R.W., Pagano, A.M. (eds) Ethology and Behavioral Ecology of Sea Otters and Polar Bears. Ethology and Behavioral Ecology of Marine Mammals. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-66796-2_11

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation