Polar Fever!!!!

[Devastatin Dave]

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060511/D8HHIDO80.html
Check it out, even in the animal kingdom, the bears want more than just vanilla ice cream. :2thumbsup:
My hybrid kids rule!!! :laugh4:

[yesdachi]

The Colbert Report covered this a few days ago. Here is a link (http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/the_colbert_report/videos/threatdown/index.jhtml) it is under ThreatDown:Bear Hybrids. Very funny.

“Bears are cross-breeding to create hybrids capable of killing in any conditions.”
-S. Colbert

From a scientific standpoint I think it is interesting and I wonder if the offspring of such a bear could also breed or if it would be a dead end like the child or a porpoise and dolphin or a Mule.

[Byzantine Mercenary]

genrally speaking two species that can interbreed and produce fertile offspring are considered one species

[Devastatin Dave]

genrally speaking two species that can interbreed and produce fertile offspring are considered one species
See, that's what I thought. They said that the offspring can reproduce. They didn't say though whether the hybrids could breed or not. Any scientist out there in the Org know?

[Byzantine Mercenary]

See, that's what I thought. They said that the offspring can reproduce. They didn't say though whether the hybrids could breed or not. Any scientist out there in the Org know?
if the (hybrid) offspring can reproduce then they are one species as far as the ability to reproduce goes

[drone]

They are both in the same genus (Ursus), but not species (polar bear: maritimus, grizzly: arctos horribilis). Dogs, wolves, dingoes, and coyote are also different species and subspecies, but can interbreed and create fertile offspring. In both these cases the genus is the same. Horses and donkeys are also the same genus, but do not produce fertile offspring due to a mismatch in the number of chromosomes. I don't think the species classification is consistent when it comes down to fertile offspring.

If you can claim Wikipedia as a reliable source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polar_Bear

It is generally believed that there are no living polar bear subspecies. In fact, because "polar bears bred with brown bears have produced fertile hybrids", it can be argued that polar bears are a subspecies of Brown Bear.


Back on topic, once you go grizzly, you can never go back! :laugh4: