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The Atlas bear and African bearBryden, H. A. (ed.) (1899)
''Great and small game of Africa''
Rowland Ward Ltd., London. Pp. 544–608.
Schaller, p. 220–21. (''Ursus arctos crowtheri'') is an extinct
population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction usi ...
or populations of
brown bear The brown bear (''Ursus arctos'') is a large bear species found across Eurasia and North America. In North America, the populations of brown bears are called grizzly bears, while the subspecies that inhabits the Kodiak Islands of Alaska is k ...
native to
North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...
that went extinct in historical times.


Range and description

The Atlas bear was
Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
's only native
bear Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. 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 the No ...
species that survived into modern times. Once inhabiting the
Atlas Mountains The Atlas Mountains are a mountain range in the Maghreb in North Africa. It separates the Sahara Desert from the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean; the name "Atlantic" is derived from the mountain range. It stretches around through ...
and neighbouring areas, from
Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to A ...
to
Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...
, the animal is now thought to be extinct. The Atlas bear was brownish-black in colour and lacked a white mark on the muzzle. The fur on the underparts was reddish-orange. The fur was long. The muzzle and claws were shorter than those of the
American black bear The American black bear (''Ursus americanus''), also called simply a black bear or sometimes a baribal, is a medium-sized bear endemic to North America. It is the continent's smallest and most widely distributed bear species. American black bear ...
, though it was stouter and thicker in body. The Atlas bear was said to have been long and weighed up to . It apparently fed on roots,
acorn The acorn, or oaknut, is the nut of the oaks and their close relatives (genera '' Quercus'' and '' Lithocarpus'', in the family Fagaceae). It usually contains one seed (occasionally two seeds), enclosed in a tough, leathery shell, and b ...
s and nuts. The Atlas bear was said to have been mostly
herbivorous A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically adapted to eating plant material, for example foliage or marine algae, for the main component of its diet. As a result of their plant diet, herbivorous animals typically have mouthpar ...
, but since most bears today are
omnivore An omnivore () is an animal that has the ability to eat and survive on both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and animal matter, omnivores digest carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber, and metabolize the nu ...
s, the Atlas bear is believed to have been able to eat meat as well. If it did eat meat, it was believed to eat small mammals as well as carrion while scavenging.


Genetics

A
mitochondrial DNA Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA or mDNA) is the DNA located in mitochondria, cellular organelles within eukaryotic cells that convert chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial D ...
study of bones of Atlas bears ranging in age from 10,000 to 800 years
Before Present Before Present (BP) years, or "years before present", is a time scale used mainly in archaeology, geology and other scientific disciplines to specify when events occurred relative to the origin of practical radiocarbon dating in the 1950s. Beca ...
found that the specimens belonged to two distinct
clades A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English te ...
, one, referred to as "Clade V", was indistinguishable from brown bears found in the
Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, def ...
, while the other "Clade VI", was highly distinct from all other brown bears, either closely related to the
polar bear The polar bear (''Ursus maritimus'') is a hypercarnivorous bear whose native range lies largely within the Arctic Circle, encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the largest extant bear spec ...
and Alaskan brown bears or outside the group that contains all other brown bear mitochondrial lineages. Atlas bears appear to not be closely related to Middle Eastern brown bear populations, despite geographic proximity, which suggests that the colonisation of Africa by brown bears was an event of considerable antiquity.


Ecology

The Atlas bear's ecology is presumed to be similar to that of the other brown bears.
Sympatric In biology, two related species or populations are considered sympatric when they exist in the same geographic area and thus frequently encounter one another. An initially interbreeding population that splits into two or more distinct species s ...
predators included the
Barbary leopard The African leopard (''Panthera pardus pardus'') is the nominate subspecies of the leopard, native to many countries in Africa. It is widely distributed in most of sub-Saharan Africa, but the historical range has been fragmented in the course of ...
and
Barbary lion The Barbary lion, also called the North African lion, Berber lion, Atlas lion, and Egyptian lion, is an extinct population of the lion subspecies '' Panthera leo leo''. It lived in the mountains and deserts of the Barbary Coast of North Africa, ...
.


Extinction

The decline of the Atlas bear can be partly attributed to the
Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...
; as the empire expanded into North Africa, the Romans intensely hunted and captured the Atlas bear (among other local animals) and used them as sport for many of their games. This went on for centuries, during which time thousands of bears were used in the arenas to fight against gladiators,
lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large cat of the genus '' Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphic; adu ...
s,
tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living Felidae, cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily pr ...
s and other animals. They were cruelly treated, often starved and malnourished to increase their desperation, and hence their aggression, within the arena. Thousands of these bears were also hunted for sport, '' venatio'' games, or execution of criminals in ''
ad bestias ''Damnatio ad bestias'' (Latin for "condemnation to beasts") was a form of Roman capital punishment where the condemned person was killed by wild animals, usually lions or other big cats. This form of execution, which first appeared during the Ro ...
''. The Atlas bear became extinct shortly after modern firearms were developed. Over-hunting may have contributed to their decline. Pressure from zoo collectors sealed their fate, with the animals being taken away from one another and unable to reproduce and flourish. The Atlas bear finally became extinct in the late 19th century; the last one recorded to be killed by hunters was in 1870 in the Tetouan Mountains in northern Morocco. Human activity can definitely be said to have played a large role in causing the extinction of the Atlas bear.


References

* * * "Bears of the Last Frontier, Hour One: City of Bears: Brown Bear Fact Sheet". www.pbs.org. Web. 23 Oct. 2014. * "The Animal Files". www.theanimalfiles.com. Web. 23 Oct. 2014. * "Brown Bear- Ursus Arctos". The National Park Service. www.nps.gov. Web. 23 Oct. 2014.


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:bear, Atlas Atlas bear Mammals of North Africa Extinct mammals of Africa Extinct animals of Africa Species made extinct by human activities Mammal extinctions since 1500 Atlas bear Species endangered by sport fishing and hunting