Editing Brown bear (section)

===Hybrids===
{{See also|Grizzly–black bear hybrid|Grizzly–polar bear hybrid}}
[[File:To replace picture in 'Ursid hybrid'.jpg|thumb|Possible [[grizzly bear|grizzly]]–[[American black bear|black bear]] hybrid in the [[Yukon]] Territory|alt=A photo of a bear walking in tall grass]]

A grizzly–polar bear hybrid is a rare [[ursid hybrid]] resulting from a crossbreeding of a brown bear with a [[polar bear]]. It has occurred both in captivity and in the wild. In 2006, the occurrence of this hybrid was confirmed by testing the [[DNA]] of a strange-looking bear that had been shot in the Canadian [[Arctic]], and seven more hybrids have since been confirmed in the same region, all descended from a single female polar bear.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Richardson|first1=Evan|last2=Branigan|first2=Marsha|last3=Paetkau|first3=David|last4=Pongracz|first4=Jodie D.|date=31 May 2017|title=Recent Hybridization between a Polar Bear and Grizzly Bears in the Canadian Arctic|journal=Arctic|volume=70|issue=#2|pages=151–160|doi=10.14430/arctic4643|issn=1923-1245|doi-access=free}}</ref> Previously, the hybrid had been produced in [[zoo]]s and was considered a "[[Cryptozoology|cryptid]]" (a hypothesized animal for which there is no scientific proof of existence in the wild).<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Janke |first1=Axel |last2=Nilsson |first2=Maria A. |last3=Kolter |first3=Lydia |last4=Pfenninger |first4=Markus |last5=Bidon |first5=Tobias |last6=Lammers |first6=Fritjof |last7=Kumar |first7=Vikas |date=19 April 2017 |title=The evolutionary history of bears is characterized by gene flow across species |journal=[[Scientific Reports]] |volume=7 |pages=46,487 |doi=10.1038/srep46487 |issn=2045-2322 |pmc=5395953 |pmid=28422140 |bibcode=2017NatSR...746487K}}</ref> Analyses of the genomes of bears have shown that [[introgression]] between species was widespread during the evolution of the genus ''Ursus'',<ref>{{Cite journal |doi=10.1126/science.1216424 |pmid=22517859 |title=Nuclear Genomic Sequences Reveal that Polar Bears Are an Old and Distinct Bear Lineage |journal=Science |volume=336 |issue=6079 |pages=344–347 |year=2012 |last1=Hailer |first1=F. |last2=Kutschera |first2=V. E. |last3=Hallstrom |first3=B. M. |last4=Klassert |first4=D. |last5=Fain |first5=S. R. |last6=Leonard |first6=J. A. |last7=Arnason |first7=U. |last8=Janke |first8=A. |bibcode=2012Sci...336..344H |hdl=10261/58578|s2cid=12671275 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> including the introgression of polar-bear DNA introduced to brown bears during the Pleistocene.<ref>{{Cite journal |doi=10.1073/pnas.1210506109 |title=Polar and brown bear genomes reveal ancient admixture and demographic footprints of past climate change |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=109 |issue=36 |pages=E2382–E2390 |year=2012 |last1=Miller |first1=W. |last2=Schuster |first2=S. C. |last3=Welch |first3=A. J. |last4=Ratan |first4=A. |last5=Bedoya-Reina |first5=O. C. |last6=Zhao |first6=F. |last7=Kim |first7=H. L. |last8=Burhans |first8=R. C. |last9=Drautz |first9=D. I. |last10=Wittekindt |first10=N. E. |last11=Tomsho |first11=L. P. |last12=Ibarra-Laclette |first12=E. |last13=Herrera-Estrella |first13=L. |last14=Peacock |first14=E. |last15=Farley |first15=S. |last16=Sage |first16=G. K. |last17=Rode |first17=K. |last18=Obbard |first18=M. |last19=Montiel |first19=R. |last20=Bachmann |first20=L. |last21=Ingolfsson |first21=O. |last22=Aars |first22=J. |last23=Mailund |first23=T. |last24=Wiig |first24=O. |last25=Talbot |first25=S. L. |last26=Lindqvist |first26=C. |bibcode=2012PNAS..109E2382M |pmid=22826254 |pmc=3437856|doi-access=free }}</ref>