answersLogoWhite

0

black bear (wrong answer)

Many people think the black bear is the grizzlies closest relative, however this is incorrect. Surprisingly it is the Polar Bear.

Polar bears are the closest relatives of brown bears. They must have diverged from an ancestral population of brown bears that became isolated away from the mainland, and other brown bears, about one million years ago. We can imagine that the ancestral polar bears were brown bears that lived in northern Siberia, perhaps along the coast of the Arctic Ocean or on Wrangell Island. They discovered an abundant source of food in the form of marine mammals; seals, walruses, and even whales, and learned to prey upon them. As they were doing this, the group of bears became isolated.

User Avatar

Wiki User

14y ago

What else can I help you with?