Brown and white (polar) are the most famous species of bears in the world. These are representatives of the same genus, therefore they are very similar to each other. Along with this, they, of course, have many differences - in addition to the color of the skin, they differ from each other in size and body weight.
Brown bear
The brown bear once lived almost all over the world - from Europe to northwest Africa, from Mexico to China. However, at the moment, this animal has been exterminated almost throughout the entire territory of its former range. The most extensive zone of its habitat is in Russia - it lives in all wooded areas.
There are several subspecies of brown bears. The largest representatives of the species live in Alaska and Kamchatka. The weight of these individuals is 500 or more kilograms. European brown bears are a little more modest - 300-400 kg.
Despite the fact that, in general, an ordinary brown bear is smaller than a polar bear, its largest individual, a male caught on Kodiak Island, weighed 1334 kg, that is, it was much larger than a large polar bear.
Polar bear
White and brown bears seem very different, but they have more in common than you might imagine. For a long time it was believed that the polar bear as a species separated from the brown one. However, more modern data allow us to say that the brown and white beast had a common ancestor, and about 600 thousand years ago, both species separated from him. A little later, a hybrid of these two species appeared, which, in general, is the modern polar bear.
Interestingly, the skin of polar bears is completely black. Its white coat is almost translucent hair that transmits ultraviolet light and warms the body. The color of the bear can be from pure white to yellowish.
The polar bear is larger and, accordingly, heavier than the brown one. This is due to the territory of his residence. To survive in such harsh conditions, bears have to store up huge amounts of nutrients. Polar bears are some of the largest carnivores on earth. Males usually weigh from 400 to 450 kg, and their body length is from 200 to 250 cm. Females are almost half their size - 200-300 kg. By the way, the short-billed bear died out about 12,000 years ago. It was the largest bear that ever lived on our planet - its weight and height were 2 times higher than that of a polar bear.
The smallest bear on earth, the Malay biruang, lives in the subtropical and tropical forests of India, Indonesia, Thailand and Burma. The height of his body at the withers is no more than 70 cm.
The heaviest of the weighed polar bears was a male weighing 1003 kg. The span of his paws was 3 m 38 cm.
In addition to weight and size, the polar bear differs from the brown one in structure. He has a long neck and a flat head.
