Editing American black bear (section)

== Taxonomy and evolution ==
The American black bear is not closely related to the [[brown bear]] or [[polar bear]], though all three species are found in [[North America]]; genetic studies reveal that they split from a common ancestor 5.05 million years ago (mya).<ref name="krause">{{Cite journal |author1=Krause, J. |author2=Unger, T. |author3=Noçon, A. |author4=Malaspinas, A. |author5=Kolokotronis, S. |author6=Stiller, M. |author7=Soibelzon, L. |author8=Spriggs, H. |author9=Dear, P. H. |author10=Briggs, A. W. |author11=Bray, S. C. E. |author12=O'Brien, S. J. |author13=Rabeder, G. |author14=Matheus, P. |author15=Cooper, A. |author16=Slatkin, M. |author17=Pääbo, S. |author18=Hofreiter, M. | title = Mitochondrial genomes reveal an explosive radiation of extinct and extant bears near the Miocene-Pliocene boundary | journal = BMC Evolutionary Biology | volume = 8 | issue = #220 | page = 220 | pmid = 18662376 | pmc = 2518930| doi = 10.1186/1471-2148-8-220 | year = 2008 |bibcode=2008BMCEE...8..220K |doi-access=free }}</ref> American and [[Asian black bear]]s are considered [[sister taxa]] and are more closely related to each other than to the other modern species of bears.<ref name="krause" /><ref name="world">Craighead, Lance (2003). ''Bears of the World'', Voyageur Press, {{ISBN|0-89658-008-3}}</ref> According to recent studies, the [[sun bear]] is also a relatively recent split from this lineage.<ref name="Hunter">Hunter, Luke (2011). ''Carnivores of the World'', Princeton University Press, {{ISBN|978-0-691-15228-8}}</ref>{{page needed|date=May 2020}}

A small primitive bear called ''Ursus abstrusus'' is the oldest known North American [[fossil]] member of the genus ''Ursus'', dated to 4.95 mya.<ref>{{cite book| author=Woodburne, Michael O.| title=Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic Mammals of North America: Biostratigraphy and Geochronology| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=73ZaLf_LL9cC&pg=PA252| year=2004| publisher=Columbia University Press| isbn=978-0-231-13040-0| pages=178, 252| access-date=November 22, 2015| archive-date=March 3, 2024| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240303091255/https://books.google.com/books?id=73ZaLf_LL9cC&pg=PA252| url-status=live}}</ref> This suggests that ''U. abstrusus'' may be the direct ancestor of the American black bear, which evolved in North America.<ref name="krause" /><ref name="kurten">Kurten, B., and E. Anderson (1980). ''Pleistocene mammals of North America''. Columbia University Press, New York, {{ISBN|0-231-51696-7}}.</ref> Although Wolverton and Lyman still consider ''U. vitabilis'' an "apparent precursor to modern black bears",<ref name="Wolverton">{{cite journal| doi=10.1006/qres.1998.1964| author1=Wolverton, S. |author2=Lyman, R. L. | s2cid=13028298 |year= 1998 |title= Measuring late Quaternary Ursid diminution in the Midwest |journal= Quaternary Research |volume=49 |issue=3|pages=322–329|bibcode=1998QuRes..49..322W }}</ref> it has also been placed within ''U. americanus''.<ref name="kurten" />

The ancestors of American black bears and Asian black bears diverged from sun bears 4.58 mya. The American black bear then split from the Asian black bear 4.08 mya.<ref name="krause" /><ref name="genetics">Lisette Waits, David Paetkau, and Curtis Strobeck, "Overview" from ''Genetics of the Bears of the World''. Chapter 3 of ''Bears: Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan'', compiled by Christopher Servheen, [[Stephen Herrero]] and Bernard Peyton, IUCN/SSC Bear Specialist Group</ref> The earliest American black bear fossils, which were located in [[Port Kennedy, Pennsylvania]], greatly resemble the Asian species,<ref name="etruscan">{{cite web |author=Herrero, Stephen |url=http://www.bearbiology.com/fileadmin/tpl/Downloads/URSUS/Vol_2/Herrero.pdf |title=Aspects of Evolution and Adaptation in American Black Bears (''Ursus americanus Pallas'') and Brown and Grizzly Bears (''U. arctos Linne.'') of North America |work=Environmental Sciences Centre (Kananaskis) |access-date=February 21, 2011 |archive-date=December 3, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101203133113/http://www.bearbiology.com/fileadmin/tpl/Downloads/URSUS/Vol_2/Herrero.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> though later specimens grew to sizes comparable to [[grizzly bear]]s.<ref name="evo">{{cite web |url=http://www.grizzlybear.org/bearbook/american_black_bear.htm |title=The American Black Bear |publisher=Grizzlybear.org |access-date=February 21, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100315004043/http://www.grizzlybear.org/bearbook/american_black_bear.htm |archive-date=March 15, 2010 }}</ref> From the [[Holocene]] to the present, American black bears seem to have shrunk in size,<ref name="krause" /> but this has been disputed because of problems with dating these fossil specimens.<ref name="Wolverton" />

The American black bear lived during the same period as the giant and lesser [[Arctodus|short-faced bear]]s (''Arctodus simus'' and ''A. pristinus'', respectively) and the Florida spectacled bear (''[[Tremarctos floridanus]]''). These [[Tremarctinae|tremarctine]] bears evolved from bears that had emigrated from Asia to the Americas 7–8 mya.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Qiu, Z. |year=2003 |title=Dispersals of Neogene Carnivorans between Asia and North America |pages=18–31 |journal=Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History |url=http://www.catsg.org/catsglib/recordetail.php?recordid=5322 |volume=279 |doi=10.1206/0003-0090(2003)279<0018:C>2.0.CO;2 |s2cid=88183435 |doi-access=free |access-date=June 25, 2012 |archive-date=January 23, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220123072249/http://www.catsg.org/catsglib/recordetail.php?recordid=5322 |url-status=live }}</ref> The giant and lesser short-faced bears are thought to have been heavily carnivorous and the Florida spectacled bear more herbivorous,<ref>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1666/09-113.1 | last1 = Schubert | first1 = B. W. | last2 = Hulbert | first2 = R. C. Jr. | last3 = MacFadden | first3 = B. J. | last4 = Searle | first4 = M. | last5 = Searle | first5 = S. | s2cid = 131532424 | year = 2010 | title = Giant short-faced bears (''Arctodus simus'') in Pleistocene Florida USA, a substantial range expansion | journal = Journal of Paleontology | volume = 84 | issue = 1 | pages = 79–87 | bibcode = 2010JPal...84...79S }}</ref> while the American black bears remained arboreal omnivores, like their Asian ancestors.

The American black bear's [[generalist species|generalist]] behavior allowed it to exploit a wider variety of foods and has been given as a reason why, of these three genera, it alone survived climate and vegetative changes through the [[Quaternary glaciation|last Ice Age]] while the other, more specialized North American predators became extinct. However, both ''Arctodus'' and ''Tremarctos'' had survived several other, previous [[ice age]]s. After these prehistoric ursids became extinct during the last glacial period 10,000&nbsp;years ago, American black bears were probably the only bear present in much of North America until the migration of brown bears to the rest of the continent.<ref name="evo" />

=== Hybrids ===
American black bears are reproductively compatible with several other bear species and occasionally produce [[Hybrid (biology)|hybrid]] offspring. According to [[Jack Hanna]]'s ''Monkeys on the Interstate'', a bear captured in [[Sanford, Florida]], was thought to have been the offspring of an escaped female Asian black bear and a male American black bear.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20101226205341/http://www.messybeast.com/genetics/hybrid-bears.htm "Hybrid Bears".] ''messybeast.com''.</ref> In 1859, an American black bear and a [[Eurasian brown bear]] were bred together in the [[London Zoological Gardens]], but the three cubs that were born died before they reached maturity.<ref>Scherren,  Henry. (1907). 4. Some Notes on Hybrid Bears. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 1907, 431--435. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-3642.1907.tb01827.x </ref> In ''[[The Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication]]'', [[Charles Darwin]] noted:
{{blockquote|In the nine-year Report it is stated that the bears had been seen in the zoological gardens to couple freely, but previously to 1848 most had rarely conceived. In the reports published since this date three species have produced young (hybrids in one case),&nbsp;...<ref>{{Cite book |last=Darwin |first=Charles |author-link=Charles Darwin |year=1868 |title=The Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication |volume=2 |edition=1st |location=London |publisher=[[John Murray (publishing house)|John Murray]] |url=http://darwin-online.org.uk/EditorialIntroductions/Freeman_VariationunderDomestication.html |page=151 |isbn=978-1-4068-4250-0 |access-date=December 23, 2009 |archive-date=February 28, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110228151402/http://darwin-online.org.uk/EditorialIntroductions/Freeman_VariationunderDomestication.html |url-status=live }}</ref>}}

A bear shot in autumn 1986 in [[Michigan]] was thought by some to be an American black bear/grizzly bear hybrid, because of its unusually large size and its proportionately larger brain case and skull. DNA testing was unable to determine whether it was a large American black bear or a grizzly bear.<ref name="hybrid">{{cite book |last=Smith |first=Richard P. |year=2007 |chapter=Hybrid Black Bear |title=Black Bear Hunting |publisher=[[Stackpole Books]] |isbn=978-0-8117-0269-0}}</ref>{{page needed|date=May 2020}}

=== Subspecies ===
Sixteen subspecies are traditionally recognized; however, a recent genetic study does not support designating some of these, such as the Florida black bear, as distinct subspecies.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Puckett|first1=Emily E.|last2=Etter|first2=P.|last3=Johnson|first3=E.|last4=Eggert|first4=L.|date=2015|title=Phylogeographic Analyses of American Black Bears (Ursus americanus) Suggest Four Glacial Refugia and Complex Patterns of Postglacial Admixture.|journal=Molecular Biology and Evolution|volume=32|issue=9|pages=2338–2350|doi=10.1093/molbev/msv114|pmid=25989983|s2cid=25207563|doi-access=free}}</ref> Listed alphabetically according to subspecific name:<ref name=Ulev2007>{{cite web|last=Ulev|first=Elena|title=Ursus americanus|work=Fire Effects Information System|publisher=U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory|location=Missoula, Montana|year=2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220423185054/https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/animals/mammal/uram/all.html|url=https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/animals/mammal/uram/all.html|accessdate=September 23, 2021|archivedate=April 23, 2022|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>[https://www.departments.bucknell.edu/biology/resources/msw3/browse.asp?id=14000953 "''Ursus americanus''"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220306015112/http://www.departments.bucknell.edu/biology/resources/msw3/browse.asp?id=14000953 |date=March 6, 2022 }}, ''Mammal Species of the World'', 3rd ed.</ref>{{page needed|date=May 2020}}

{| class="wikitable"
|+American black bear subspecies

!Image !! Scientific name!! Common name!! Distribution!! Description
|-
| valign="top" | [[File:Black bear Quesnel Lake BC.jpg|120px]]
| valign="top" | ''Ursus americanus altifrontalis''
| valign="top" | Olympic black bear
| valign="top" | the Pacific Northwest coast from central [[British Columbia]] through northern [[California]] and inland to the tip of northern [[Idaho]] and British Columbia
| valign="top" |
|-
| valign="top" | [[File:Black bear Yellowstone NP 2008.jpg|120px]]
| valign="top" | ''Ursus americanus amblyceps''
| valign="top" | New Mexico black bear
| valign="top" | [[Colorado]], [[New Mexico]], western [[Texas]] and the eastern half of [[Arizona]] into northern [[Mexico]] and southeastern [[Utah]]
| valign="top" |
|-
| valign="top" | [[File:Ursus americanus PO 03.jpg|120px]]
| valign="top" | ''Ursus americanus americanus''
| valign="top" | Eastern black bear
| valign="top" | Eastern [[Montana]] to the Atlantic coast, from [[Alaska]] south and east through [[Canada]] to [[Maine]] and south to [[Texas]]. Thought to be increasing in some regions.
| valign="top" | Common to [[Eastern Canada]] and the [[Eastern United States|eastern U.S.]] wherever suitable habitat is found. A large-bodied subspecies; almost all specimens have black fur. May very rarely sport a white blaze on the chest. 
|-
| valign="top" | [[File:Black Bear (20261425192).jpg|120px]]
| valign="top" | ''Ursus americanus californiensis''
| valign="top" | California black bear
| valign="top" | the mountain ranges of southern [[California]], north through the [[Central Valley (California)|Central Valley]] to southern [[Oregon]]
| valign="top" | Able to live in varied climates: found in temperate rain forest in the north and [[chaparral]] shrubland in the south. Small numbers may feature cinnamon-colored fur.
|-
| valign="top" | 
| valign="top" | ''Ursus americanus carlottae''
| valign="top" | [[Ursus americanus carlottae|Haida Gwaii black bear or Queen Charlotte Islands black bear]]
| [[Haida Gwaii]] (formerly the Queen Charlotte Islands) and [[Alaska]]
| valign="top" | Generally larger than its mainland counterparts with a large skull and molars and found only in a black color phase.<ref name="charlotte">{{cite web |url=http://www.llbc.leg.bc.ca/public/PubDocs/bcdocs/373436/Chapter%202.8.pdf |title=Haida Gwaii Black Bear (''Ursus Americanus Carlottae'' Subspecies) |access-date=February 21, 2011 |archive-date=April 20, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170420232921/http://www.llbc.leg.bc.ca/public/pubdocs/bcdocs/373436/chapter%202.8.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>
|-
| valign="top" | [[File:"Cinnamon" Black Bear.jpg|120px]]
| valign="top" | ''Ursus americanus cinnamomum''
| valign="top" | [[Cinnamon bear]]
| valign="top" | Colorado, Idaho, western Montana and Wyoming, eastern Washington and Oregon and northeastern Utah
| valign="top" | Has brown or reddish-brown fur, reminiscent of cinnamon.
|-
| valign="top" | [[File:Glacier-Bear.jpg|120px]]
| valign="top" | ''Ursus americanus emmonsii''
| valign="top" | [[Glacier bear]] or blue bear
| valign="top" | [[Southeast Alaska|Southeastern Alaska]]
| valign="top" | Distinguished by its fur being silvery-gray with a blue luster found mostly on its flanks.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wildlife1.wildlifeinformation.org/S/0MCarnivor/ursidae/ursus/Ursus_americanus/19Ursus_americanusSpecVar.html |title=Species Variation – Editorial Comment |publisher=Wildlife1.wildlifeinformation.org |access-date=February 21, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723235708/http://wildlife1.wildlifeinformation.org/S/0MCarnivor/ursidae/ursus/Ursus_americanus/19Ursus_americanusSpecVar.html |archive-date=July 23, 2011 }}</ref>
|-
| valign="top" | [[File:Ursus americanus eremicus.jpg|120px]]
| valign="top" | ''Ursus americanus eremicus''
| valign="top" | East Mexican black bear
| valign="top" | Northeastern Mexico and U.S. borderlands with Texas. 
| valign="top" | Most often found in [[Big Bend National Park]] and the desert border with Mexico. Numbers unknown in Mexico but are presumed to be very low. Critically Endangered.
|-
| valign="top" | [[File:A Florida Black Bear.jpg|120px]]
| valign="top" | ''Ursus americanus floridanus''
| valign="top" | [[Florida black bear]]
| valign="top" | [[Florida]], southern [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], [[Alabama]] and [[Mississippi]] (except the southern region)
| valign="top" | Has a light brown nose and shiny black fur. A white blaze on the chest is common in this subspecies. An average male weighs {{convert|136|kg|lb|abbr=on}}.
|-
| valign="top" | [[File:American black bear Gros Mornе NFL.jpg|120px]]
| valign="top" | ''Ursus americanus hamiltoni''
| valign="top" | [[Newfoundland black bear]]
| valign="top" | [[Newfoundland (island)|Newfoundland]]
| valign="top" | Generally bigger than its mainland relatives, ranging in size from {{convert|90|to|270|kg|lb|abbr=on}} and averaging {{convert|135|kg|lb|abbr=on}}. It has one of the longest hibernation periods of any bear in North America.<ref>[http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/nl/grosmorne/natcul/natcul3.aspx#a3 "Black Bear"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140821035644/http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/nl/grosmorne/natcul/natcul3.aspx |date=August 21, 2014 }}, Parks Canada</ref> Known to favor foraging in fields of ''[[Vaccinium]]'' species.
|-
| valign="top" | [[File:Ursus americanus kermodei, Spirit Bear Lodge, Klemtu, BC 1.jpg|120px]]
| valign="top" | ''Ursus americanus kermodei''
| valign="top" | [[Kermode bear]] or island white bear, spirit bear
| valign="top" | the central coast of British Columbia
| valign="top" | Approximately 10% of the population of this subspecies have white or cream-colored coats due to a recessive gene. The other 90% appear as normal-colored black bears.<ref name="Gov.bc">{{cite web|title=Spirit Bear Facts |url=http://www.corporate.gov.bc.ca/bcspiritbear/more_about_spirit_bear.htm |publisher=Province of British Columbia |access-date=December 3, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091217143929/http://www.corporate.gov.bc.ca/bcspiritbear/more_about_spirit_bear.htm |archive-date=December 17, 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|-
| valign="top" |
| valign="top" | ''Ursus americanus luteolus''
| valign="top" | [[Louisiana black bear]]
| valign="top" | Eastern Texas, [[Louisiana]] and southern [[Mississippi]]. The validity of this subspecies has been repeatedly disputed.<ref name="iucn" />
| valign="top" | Has relatively long, narrow and flat skull and proportionately large molars.<ref>[http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publications/pwdpubs/media/pwd_bk_w7000_0013_louisiana_black_bear.pdf ''Louisiana Black Bear'' (PDF).] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224095210/http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publications/pwdpubs/media/pwd_bk_w7000_0013_louisiana_black_bear.pdf |date=December 24, 2013 }} Retrieved September 15, 2011.</ref> Prefers [[hardwood bottom forest]]s and [[bayou]]s as habitat.
|-
| valign="top" |[[File:Ursus americanus machetes.jpg|120px]]
| valign="top" | ''Ursus americanus machetes''
| valign="top" | West Mexican black bear
| valign="top" | north-central Mexico
| valign="top" |
|-
| valign="top" |
| valign="top" | ''Ursus americanus perniger''
| valign="top" | Kenai black bear
| valign="top" | the [[Kenai Peninsula]], Alaska
| valign="top" | Considered an "Apparently Secure Subspecies" by [[NatureServe]].<ref>{{cite web |title=NatureServe Explorer 2.0 |url=https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.103496/Ursus_americanus_perniger |website=explorer.natureserve.org |access-date=31 March 2022 |archive-date=March 31, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220331172917/https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.103496/Ursus_americanus_perniger |url-status=live }}</ref>
|-
| valign="top" |
| valign="top" | ''Ursus americanus pugnax''
| valign="top" | Dall Island black bear
| valign="top" | [[Dall Island]] in the [[Alexander Archipelago]], Alaska
| valign="top" |
|-
| valign="top" |
| valign="top" | ''Ursus americanus vancouveri''
| valign="top" | Vancouver Island black bear
| valign="top" | [[Vancouver Island]], British Columbia
| valign="top" | Darker and slightly bigger than the other five subspecies found in British Columbia; it is most common in the north, but appears occasionally in the southern parts of Vancouver Island.
|}