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34-589: See text. Ursinae is a subfamily of Ursidae (bears) named by Swainson (1835). It was assigned to Ursidae by Bjork (1970), Hunt (1998), and Jin et al. (2007). The genera Melursus and Helarctos are sometimes also included in Ursus . The Asiatic black bear and the polar bear used to be placed in their own genera, Selenarctos and Thalarctos ; these are now placed at subgenus rank. A number of hybrids have been bred between American black, brown, and polar bears (see Ursid hybrids ). This article about

68-499: A carnivoran is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Ursidae Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae ( / ˈ ɜːr s ɪ d iː , - d aɪ / ). They are classified as caniforms , or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout most of the Northern Hemisphere and partially in

102-561: A family of names for the bear in Germanic languages , such as Swedish björn , also used as a first name. This form is conventionally said to be related to a Proto-Indo-European word for "brown", so that "bear" would mean "the brown one". However, Ringe notes that while this etymology is semantically plausible, a word meaning "brown" of this form cannot be found in Proto-Indo-European. He suggests instead that "bear"

136-526: A few languages have another style, called a "secret language" or "mystic language", that is taught to boys as part of initiation rituals, and is only used between men. A special system of avoidance vocabulary is traditionally used by married women speaking Highland East Cushitic languages in southwestern Ethiopia. In Kambaata and Sidamo , this system is called ballishsha , and includes physical and linguistic avoidance of parents-in-law. Women who practice ballishsha do not pronounce any words beginning with

170-470: A man and his father-in-law, avoidance style is used and must be spoken in a slow, soft voice. An extreme case of avoidance behavior is found in the Umpila , in which a man and his mother-in-law may not speak at all in each other's presence. Children in these cultures acquire avoidance speech forms as part of their normal language development, learning with whom to use them at a fairly young age. Additionally,

204-678: A prominent role in the arts , mythology , and other cultural aspects of various human societies. In modern times, bears have come under pressure through encroachment on their habitats and illegal trade in bear parts, including the Asian bile bear market. The IUCN lists six bear species as vulnerable or endangered , and even least concern species, such as the brown bear , are at risk of extirpation in certain countries. The poaching and international trade of these most threatened populations are prohibited, but still ongoing. The English word "bear" comes from Old English bera and belongs to

238-513: Is an avoidance relationship between a man and his mother-in-law, usually between a woman and her father-in-law, and sometimes between any person and their same-sex parent-in-law. For some tribes, avoidance relationships are extended to other family members, such as the mother-in-law's brother in Warlpiri or cross-cousins in Dyirbal . All relations are classificatory – more people may fall into

272-462: Is from the Proto-Indo-European word *ǵʰwḗr- ~ *ǵʰwér "wild animal". This terminology for the animal originated as a taboo avoidance term: proto-Germanic tribes replaced their original word for bear— arkto —with this euphemistic expression out of fear that speaking the animal's true name might cause it to appear. According to author Ralph Keyes , this is the oldest known euphemism . Bear taxon names such as Arctoidea and Helarctos come from

306-400: Is most strongly associated with married women in respect to their father-in-law and other senior male relatives. Women who practice ukuhlonipha may not say the names of these men or any words with the same root as their names. They avoid the taboo words phonologically (substituting sounds) or lexically (replacing words with synonyms, etc.). The ukuhlonipha system also includes avoidance of

340-463: Is used by both members of the avoidance relationship; in others the senior member may talk to the junior in everyday style. Behavior associated with avoidance speech is a continuum and varies between tribes. For the Dyirbal people , a man and his mother-in-law may not make eye contact, face one another or directly talk to each other. Rather, they must address a third person or even a nearby object. For slightly less restricted relationships, such as between

374-648: The Bering land bridge may have been possible during a major sea level low stand as early as the late Eocene (about 37 Mya) and continuing into the early Oligocene. European genera morphologically very similar to Allocyon , and to the much younger American Kolponomos (about 18 Mya), are known from the Oligocene, including Amphicticeps and Amphicynodon . There has been various morphological evidence linking amphicynodontines with pinnipeds , as both groups were semi-aquatic, otter-like mammals. In addition to

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408-646: The Isthmus of Panama . Their earliest fossil representative is Plionarctos in North America (c. 10–2 Ma). This genus is probably the direct ancestor to the North American short-faced bears (genus Arctodus ), the South American short-faced bears ( Arctotherium ), and the spectacled bears, Tremarctos , represented by both an extinct North American species ( T. floridanus ), and

442-399: The spectacled bear ), and Ursinae (containing six species divided into one to three genera, depending on the authority). Nuclear chromosome analysis show that the karyotype of the six ursine bears is nearly identical, each having 74  chromosomes ( see Ursid hybrid ), whereas the giant panda has 42 chromosomes and the spectacled bear 52. These smaller numbers can be explained by

476-511: The "mother-in-law" category than just a man's wife's mother. Avoidance speech styles used with taboo relatives are often called mother-in-law languages , although they are not actually separate languages but separate lexical sets with the same grammar and phonology . Typically, the taboo lexical set has a one-to-many correspondence with the everyday set. For example, in Dyirbal the avoidance style has one word, jijan , for all lizards, while

510-537: The Southern Hemisphere. Bears are found on the continents of North America , South America , and Eurasia . Common characteristics of modern bears include large bodies with stocky legs, long snouts, small rounded ears, shaggy hair, plantigrade paws with five nonretractile claws, and short tails. While the polar bear is mostly carnivorous , and the giant panda is mostly herbivorous , the remaining six species are omnivorous with varying diets. With

544-507: The ancient Greek ἄρκτος ( arktos ), meaning bear, as do the names " arctic " and " antarctic ", via the name of the constellation Ursa Major , the "Great Bear", prominent in the northern sky. Bear taxon names such as Ursidae and Ursus come from Latin Ursus/Ursa , he-bear/she-bear. The female first name " Ursula ", originally derived from a Christian saint 's name, means "little she-bear" (diminutive of Latin ursa ). In Switzerland,

578-760: The bear family with other carnivorans is shown in the following phylogenetic tree , which is based on the molecular phylogenetic analysis of six genes in Flynn (2005) with the musteloids updated following the multigene analysis of Law et al. (2018). Feliformia [REDACTED] Canidae [REDACTED] Ursidae [REDACTED] Pinnipedia [REDACTED] Mephitidae [REDACTED] Ailuridae [REDACTED] Procyonidae [REDACTED] Mustelidae [REDACTED] Note that although they are called "bears" in some languages, red pandas and raccoons and their close relatives are not bears, but rather musteloids . There are two phylogenetic hypotheses on

612-521: The brown bears (which includes the polar bear ). Modern brown bears evolved from U. minimus via Ursus etruscus , which itself is ancestral to the extinct Pleistocene cave bear . Species of Ursinae have migrated repeatedly into North America from Eurasia as early as 4 Mya during the early Pliocene. The polar bear is the most recently evolved species and descended from a population of brown bears that became isolated in northern latitudes by glaciation 400,000 years ago. The relationship of

646-526: The early Pleistocene. By 3–4 Mya, the species Ursus minimus appears in the fossil record of Europe; apart from its size, it was nearly identical to today's Asian black bear . It is likely ancestral to all bears within Ursinae, perhaps aside from the sloth bear. Two lineages evolved from U. minimus : the black bears (including the sun bear , the Asian black bear, and the American black bear ); and

680-403: The everyday style differentiates many varieties. In Guugu Yimidhirr the avoidance speech verb bali-l "travel" covers several everyday verbs meaning "go", "walk", "crawl", "paddle", "float, sail, drift", and "limp along". Corresponding avoidance and everyday words are generally not linguistically related. Avoidance forms tend to be longer than everyday forms. In some areas, the avoidance style

714-674: The exception of courting individuals and mothers with their young, bears are typically solitary animals . They may be diurnal or nocturnal and have an excellent sense of smell . Despite their heavy build and awkward gait, they are adept runners, climbers, and swimmers. Bears use shelters, such as caves and logs, as their dens; most species occupy their dens during the winter for a long period of hibernation , up to 100 days. Bears have been hunted since prehistoric times for their meat and fur; they have also been used for bear-baiting and other forms of entertainment, such as being made to dance . With their powerful physical presence, they play

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748-966: The extinct bear dogs of the family Amphicyonidae . Below is the cladogram based on McKenna and Bell (1997) classification: † Amphicyonidae [REDACTED] † Amphicynodontidae [REDACTED] Pinnipedia [REDACTED] † Hemicyoninae † Agriotheriinae † Ursavinae Ailuropodinae [REDACTED] Tremarctinae [REDACTED] Ursinae [REDACTED] Giant panda ( Ailuropoda melanoleuca ) [REDACTED] Spectacled bear ( Tremarctos ornatus ) [REDACTED] Sloth bear ( Melursus ursinus ) [REDACTED] Sun bear ( Helarctos malayanus ) [REDACTED] Asian black bear ( Ursus thibetanus ) [REDACTED] American black bear ( Ursus americanus ) [REDACTED] Polar bear ( Ursus maritimus ) [REDACTED] Brown bear ( Ursus arctos ) [REDACTED] Giant panda ( Ailuropoda melanoleuca ) [REDACTED] Avoidance speech Avoidance speech styles tend to have

782-571: The fusing of some chromosomes, and the banding patterns on these match those of the ursine species, but differ from those of procyonids, which supports the inclusion of these two species in Ursidae rather than in Procyonidae , where they had been placed by some earlier authorities. The earliest members of Ursidae belong to the extinct subfamily Amphicynodontinae, including Parictis (late Eocene to early middle Miocene , 38–18  Mya ) and

816-458: The genus Ursavus during the early Oligocene (30–28 Mya); this genus proliferated into many species in Asia and is ancestral to all living bears. Species of Ursavus subsequently entered North America, together with Amphicynodon and Cephalogale , during the early Miocene (21–18 Mya). Members of the living lineages of bears diverged from Ursavus between 15 and 20 Mya, likely via

850-659: The lone surviving representative of the Tremarctinae, the South American spectacled bear ( T. ornatus ). The subfamily Ursinae experienced a dramatic proliferation of taxa about 5.3–4.5 Mya, coincident with major environmental changes; the first members of the genus Ursus appeared around this time. The sloth bear is a modern survivor of one of the earliest lineages to diverge during this radiation event (5.3 Mya); it took on its peculiar morphology, related to its diet of termites and ants, no later than by

884-418: The male first name "Urs" is especially popular, while the name of the canton and city of Bern is by legend derived from Bär , German for bear. The Germanic name Bernard (including Bernhardt and similar forms) means "bear-brave", "bear-hardy", or "bold bear". The Old English name Beowulf is a kenning , "bee-wolf", for bear, in turn meaning a brave warrior. The family Ursidae is one of nine families in

918-628: The relationships among extant and fossil bear species. One is all species of bears are classified in seven subfamilies as adopted here and related articles: Amphicynodontinae , Hemicyoninae , Ursavinae , Agriotheriinae , Ailuropodinae , Tremarctinae , and Ursinae . Below is a cladogram of the subfamilies of bears after McLellan and Reiner (1992) and Qiu et al. . (2014): † Amphicynodontinae [REDACTED] † Hemicyoninae † Ursavinae † Agriotheriinae Ailuropodinae [REDACTED] Tremarctinae [REDACTED] Ursinae [REDACTED] The second alternative phylogenetic hypothesis

952-545: The same phonology and grammar as the standard language they are a part of. The lexicon , however, tends to be smaller than in normal speech since the styles are only used for limited communication. Avoidance speech in Australian Aboriginal languages is closely tied to elaborate tribal kinship systems in which certain relatives are considered taboo . Avoidance relations differ from tribe to tribe in terms of strictness and to whom they apply. Typically, there

986-512: The same syllable as the name of their husband's mother or father. Instead, they may use paraphrase , synonyms or semantically similar words, antonyms, or borrowings from other languages. Ukuhlonipha is a traditional system of avoidance speech in Nguni Bantu languages of southern Africa including Zulu , Xhosa and Swazi , as well as Sotho. This special speech style and correlating respectful behaviors may be used in many contexts, but

1020-540: The slightly younger Allocyon (early Oligocene , 34–30 Mya), both from North America. These animals looked very different from today's bears, being small and raccoon -like in overall appearance, with diets perhaps more similar to that of a badger . Parictis does not appear in Eurasia and Africa until the Miocene. It is unclear whether late-Eocene ursids were also present in Eurasia, although faunal exchange across

1054-547: The species Ursavus elmensis . Based on genetic and morphological data, the Ailuropodinae (pandas) were the first to diverge from other living bears about 19 Mya, although no fossils of this group have been found before about 11 Mya. The New World short-faced bears (Tremarctinae) differentiated from Ursinae following a dispersal event into North America during the mid-Miocene (about 13 Mya). They invaded South America (≈2.5 or 1.2 Ma) following formation of

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1088-434: The suborder Caniformia , or "doglike" carnivorans, within the order Carnivora . Bears' closest living relatives are the pinnipeds , canids , and musteloids (some scholars formerly argued that bears are directly derived from canids and should not be classified as a separate family). Modern bears comprise eight species in three subfamilies: Ailuropodinae (monotypic with the giant panda ), Tremarctinae (monotypic with

1122-509: The support of the pinniped–amphicynodontine clade, other morphological and some molecular evidence supports bears being the closest living relatives to pinnipeds. The raccoon-sized, dog-like Cephalogale is the oldest-known member of the subfamily Hemicyoninae , which first appeared during the middle Oligocene in Eurasia about 30 Mya. The subfamily includes the younger genera Phoberocyon (20–15 Mya), and Plithocyon (15–7 Mya). A Cephalogale -like species gave rise to

1156-496: Was implemented by McKenna et al. (1997) to classify all the bear species into the superfamily Ursoidea , with Hemicyoninae and Agriotheriinae being classified in the family "Hemicyonidae". Amphicynodontinae under this classification were classified as stem- pinnipeds in the superfamily Phocoidea . In the McKenna and Bell classification both bears and pinnipeds are in a parvorder of carnivoran mammals known as Ursida , along with

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