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The Grizzly Bear, sometimes called the Silvertip Bear, has traditionally been treated as a subspecies, Ursus arctos horribilis, of the brown bear living in North America. However, DNA analysis has recently revealed that the subspecies of brown bears, both Eurasian and North American, are genetically quite homogeneous, and that their genetic phylogeography does not correspond to their traditional taxonomy. Therefore, the common name Grizzly Bear can be appropriately used to refer to interior North American Brown Bears, whereas the coastal bears of North America are referred to as Kodiak Bears or Kodiak Brown Bears, and those of Europe, the European Brown Bear. Grizzly Bears reach weights of 180-680 kg (400-1500 lb); the male is on average 1.8 times as heavy as the female, an example of sexual dimorphism. Their coloring ranges widely across geographic areas, from blond to deep brown or black. These differences, once attributed to subspeciation, are now thought to be primarily due to the different environments these bears inhabit, particularly with regard to diet and temperature. The Grizzly has a large hump over the shoulders which is a muscle mass used to power the forelimbs in digging. The head is large and round with a concave facial profile. In spite of their massive size, these bears can run at speeds of up to 55 km/h (35 mph). Normally a solitary, nocturnally active animal, in coastal areas the Grizzly congregates alongside streams and rivers during the salmon spawn. Every other year females (sows) produce 1-4 young (most commonly 2) which are small and weigh only about 500 g (1 pound). Sows are very protective of their offspring. The current range of the Grizzly Bear extends from Alaska, down through much of Western Canada, and into the upper Northwestern United States including Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.

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16y ago

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