Syrian brown bear
| Syrian brown bear | ||||||||||||
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Syrian brown bear |
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| Ursus arctos syriacus | ||||||||||||
| ( Hemprich & Ehrenberg , 1828) |
The Syrian brown bear ( Ursus arctos syriacus ) is a subspecies of the brown bear .
features
The Syrian brown bear is typically very light in color. The short, relatively coarse fur is straw-colored, with the legs usually not darker than the trunk. On the withers, longer hairs with a gray-brown base form a slightly darker colored zone, which in some individuals forms a dark band over the entire back. Some individuals are a bit darker overall and then approach light specimens of Ursus arctos arctos .
With its light brown fur and its comparatively small body size, it stands out clearly from the other brown bear subspecies. It can weigh up to 190 kg.
distribution
The distribution of the subspecies can hardly be reliably stated due to the confused taxonomy of the subspecies of the brown bear (for the Caucasus alone, different authors have given five different subspecies, some side by side). Within the huge historical area of the brown bear, encompassing four continents, it is in any case animals that mark the southern edge of the recent distribution. The distribution limit in the north is generally given either in Lebanon, or possibly in the extreme south of Turkey, to the north of which the distribution area of the nominate form , the European brown bear Ursus arctos arctos , adjoins. The distribution limit in the east can hardly be reliably delimited from other subspecies, especially since bears are extremely rare, secretly and only irregularly observed in these regions today. According to some authors, it is enough to Pakistan.
In Syria , the brown bear is believed to have become extinct, although recent photo evidence and traces (in 2014) suggest that a tiny relic population may have survived. In Israel it is mentioned in biblical and historical reports, the last reliable mention in today's territory seems to come from Hermon in 1912 , and only historical information is available from Lebanon . In Iran to this day there are bears in the Elburs Mountains and Zāgros Mountains . A recent study in Golestan confirmed at least 30 bears living in the high mountains here. In Turkey, bears still live mainly in the Pontic Mountains near the Black Sea coast; these populations are usually not assigned to the subspecies syriacus .
Taxonomy
The subspecies of Wilhelm Hemprich and Christian Ehrenberg in her work "Symbolae physicae (...)" as Ursus syriacus described . In the species diagnosis, they refer to the small body size and slightly different head proportions compared to other brown bears, in particular to the yellowish-white coat color. The justification of this, as well as most of the other subspecies of the brown bear, has often been contested in recent times.
According to genetic analyzes of living bears, museum material and subfossil bone finds from excavations, the bears of the Middle East region show a very high genetic diversity. The specimens from Syria and Turkey therefore belong genetically to a widespread, Holarctic clade ("clade 3a") that includes bears from Eastern Europe, most of North Asia and northwestern North America. The most genetically similar were bears from Romania. In contrast, the tested bear from Lebanon was more closely related to bears that live in Western Europe today ("Klade 1"). The Iranian bears were quite different from each other as well as from the other tested individuals. Bears from the Caucasus , which were assigned to the subspecies on the basis of morphological analyzes, showed no particular resemblance to one another or to the bears of the Levant in genetic analyzes. The subspecies can therefore not be delimited according to genetic data.
Syrian brown bear in the Heidelberg zoo
Syrian brown bear foraging for food
Syrian brown bear in the Nuremberg zoo
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ VG Heptner, NPNaumov, PB Yurgenson, AA Sludskii, AF Chirkova, AG Bannikov: Mammals of the Soviet Union. Volume III, part Ia: Sirenia and Carnivora. Vysshaya Skhola Publishers, Moscow 1967, translated by Smithsonian Institutian Libraries and National Science Foundation, Washington 1998. Amerind Publishing, New Delhi. on pages 643–644.
- ↑ Faizul Haq, Rahatullah, Habib Ahmad (2012): Diversity and population status of Ursus arctos in Pakistan. International Journal of Biosciences Vol. 2, No. 4: 12-20.
- ↑ Dave Garshelis, Issam Hajjar, Rob Steinmetz, Darem Tabbaa (2015): Brown Bear (s) Do Exist in Syria: Fuzzy Photo Generates Much Interest. International Bear News vol. 24 no.1: 5-8.
- ↑ Mazin B. Qumsiyeh: Mammals of the Holy Land. Texas Tech University Press, 1996 Google Books limited preview
- ↑ Mohammad Sadegh Farhadinia & Negin Valizadegan (2015): A preliminary baseline status of the Syrian Brown Bear Ursus arctos syriacus (Mammalia: Carnivora: Ursidae) in Golestanak, Northern Iran. Journal of Threatened Taxa 7 (1): 6796-6799. doi : 10.11609 / JoTT.o3708.6796-9
- ↑ Ö. Emre Can & İnci Togan (2004): Status and management of brown bears in Turkey. Ursus 15 (1): 48-53.
- ↑ Wilhelm Hemprich, Christian Ehrenberg: Symbolae physicae, seu, Icones et descriptiones corporum naturalium novorum aut minus cognitorum: quae ex itineribus per Libyam Aegyptum Nubiam Dongalam Syriam Arabiam et Habessiniam publico institutis sumptu Friderici Guilelmi Hemprich et ChristianiCV: studio annisiCberg MDXXXX redierunt. Berlin, 1828 (Berolini: Ex Officina Academica, venditur a Mittlero) Scan from archive.org
- ^ AC Kitchener (2010): Taxonomic issues in bears: impacts on conservation in zoos and the wild, and gaps in current knowledge. International Zoo Yearbook 44: 33-46. doi : 10.1111 / j.1748-1090.2009.00087.x
- ↑ Sebastien Calvignac, Sandrine Hughes Catherine Hänni (2009): Genetic diversity of endangered brown bear (Ursus arctos) populations at the crossroads of Europe, Asia and Africa. Diversity and Distributions (2009): 1-9.
- ↑ Mohammad Reza Ashrafzadeh, Mohammad Kaboli, Mohammad Reza Naghavi (2016): Mitochondrial DNA analysis of Iranian brown bears (Ursus arctos) reveals new phylogeographic lineage. Mammalian Biology 81 (1): 1-9. (online before print) doi : 10.1016 / j.mambio.2015.09.001
- ↑ IE Chestin & NG Mikeshina (1998): variation in skull morphology of brown bears (Ursus arctos) from Caucasus. Journal of Mammalogy 79: 118-130.
- ↑ M. Murtskhvaladze, A. Gavashelishvili, D. Tarkhnishvili (2010): Geographic and genetic boundaries of brown bear (Ursus arctos) population in the Caucasus. Molecular Ecology 19: 1829-1841. doi : 10.1111 / j.1365-294X.2010.04610.x