- Thread starter
- #61
I also noticed thier claws are unique they are shaped like a fish hook unlike grizzly or black bears.
Yes, another phenotypic difference attributable to small differences in genes. Polar bears are actually more closely related (on a genetic basis) to their Kodiak bear neighbors than the Kodiak bears are to the grizzlies in the lower 48. Hybrids between polar bears and brown bears show some traits being dominant, and some intermediate traits, in the F1 generation. When interbred, the F1's show offspring with a wider range of variability, some being more brown bear-like and others more polar bear-like. This has happened a few times in zoos, and (at least according to documentation) a few times in the wild. The polar bear, while appearing to our eyes as so distinct from the Kodiak brown bears, might be more the result of a few "loud" genetic differences -- not a lot of genes, but those that have large phenotypic results.