Polar bear

This article is about the animal. For other uses, see Polar bear (disambiguation).
The polar bear (Ursus maritimus) is a carnivorous bear whose native range lies
largely within the Arctic Circle, encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas
and surrounding land masses. It is a large bear, approximately the same size as

[3]

theomnivorous Kodiak bear (Ursus arctos middendorffi).

weighs around 350700 kg (7721,543 lb),

[4]

A boar (adult male)

while a sow (adult female) is about

[5]

half that size. Although it is the sister species of the brown bear,

it has evolved to

occupy a narrower ecological niche, with many body characteristics adapted for cold
temperatures, for moving across snow, ice, and open water, and for hunting
theseals, which make up most of its diet.

[6]

Although most polar bears are born on

land, they spend most of their time at sea. Their scientific name means
"maritime bear", and derives from this fact. Polar bears hunt their preferred food of
seals from the edge of sea ice, often living off fat reserves when no sea ice is
present.
The polar bear is classified as a vulnerable species, with eight of the nineteen polar
bear subpopulations in decline.

[7]

For decades, large scale hunting raised

international concern for the future of the species but populations rebounded after
controls and quotas began to take effect.

[8]

For thousands of years, the polar bear

has been a key figure in the material, spiritual, and cultural life of Arctic indigenous
peoples, and polar bears remain important in their cultures.

Penguin
Penguins (order Sphenisciformes, family Spheniscidae) are a group
of aquatic,flightless birds living almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere,
especially inAntarctica. Highly adapted for life in the water, penguins
have countershaded dark and white plumage, and their wings have evolved
into flippers. Most penguins feed on krill, fish, squid and other forms of sealife caught
while swimming underwater. They spend about half of their lives on land and half in
the oceans.
Although all penguin species are native to the Southern Hemisphere, they are not
found only in cold climates, such as Antarctica. In fact, only a few species of penguin
live so far south. Several species are found in the temperate zone, and one species,
the Galpagos penguin, lives near the equator.
The largest living species is the emperor penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri): on average
adults are about 1.1 m (3 ft 7 in) tall and weigh 35 kg (77 lb) or more. The smallest
penguin species is the little blue penguin (Eudyptula minor), also known as the fairy
penguin, which stands around 40 cm (16 in) tall and weighs 1 kg (2.2 lb). Among
extant penguins, larger penguins inhabit colder regions, while smaller penguins are
generally found in temperate or even tropical climates (see also Bergmann's rule).
Some prehistoric species attained enormous sizes, becoming as tall or as heavy as
an adult human. These were not restricted to Antarctic regions; on the
contrary,subantarctic regions harboured high diversity, and at least one giant penguin
occurred in a region not quite 2,000 km south of the equator 35 mya, in a climate
decidedly warmer than today.