blog #3
Grizzly Polar Bear Hybrids Spotted in the Canadian Arctic
by Catherine Jex
June 6, 2016
Scientists already knew of the possibility of mating polar bears and grizzlies from studies having taken place in zoos, but recently these hybrids have been appearing on their own in nature. One cause of this in global warming, due to a rise in temperature, grizzlies are expanding their territories, as their hibernations are shorter, and as the polar ice caps shrink, polar bears find themselves forced onto land during the mating season. This revelation is not however all that shocking, for after mapping polar bear and grizzly genomes, scientists discovered that the two bears had diverged as separate species roughly 400,000 years ago. The challenge with this cross mating, is that grizzly DNA seems to dominate over polar bears, resulting in first generation offspring being 1/4 polar bear and 3/4 grizzly. With this change, it is possible that the polar bear’s unique genetic adaptations could be lost.
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