A DAPTATION OF P OLAR B EARS TO COLD CLIMATES
Hrishikesh Patel
Overview
Polar Bear or Ursus maritimus is one of the 8 bear species that roam this
planet and the only one that is capable of living in cold climates. This is pos-
sible due to several physiological and behavioral adaptations to the extreme
climates of their habitat.
Physiological adaptations
The polar bears are a prime example of divergent evolution in the genus Ur-
sus due to selection pressure of the environment it resides in. It is estimated
that the brown bear and the polar bear diverged somewhere from 343,000 to
479,000 years ago [2], which is surprisingly recent in Earth’s geologic history!
In the meantime, they have developed several unique physiological features
that adapt them to the unique climate of polar arctic. We discuss two of them
below.
• Skeletal differences: Polar bears are the largest creatures (in terms of
biomass) in the Ursus genus and this is primarily due to their diet. They
are apex predators and hypercarnivores of the sea-ice ecosystem, that
is they mostly live near the ice fields close to water and their primary
source of food are seals which they usually hunt in spring. This high fat
diet helps them adapt to a habitat where food is neither abundant nor
frequent. Since seals also reside in the polar regions, they have a thick
layer of insulation under their skin to prevent hypothermia. As a result,
polar bears have developed a larger jaws (see Fig. 1) to tear through the
flesh of seals.
Fig. 1: (a) Brown bear skull (b) Polar bear skull. Image from [4]
• Blubber In addition to skeletal changes due to evolution, one of the
most obvious features that helps differentiate a polar bear from its
tropic/temperate cousins is the fur color. The white fur helps the po-
lar bear camouflage for its hunting pursuits.
BIOL 111 101, 2021W
continued...
Polar bears, like most animals that live in polar regions also have a thick layer of fat
called blubber under their skin between the epidermal and connective tissue (Fig. 2)
which helps them keep warm in the extreme climate. These fat reserves are also
a result of their hyper-carnivorous diet. In fact, during peak hunting season (spring),
polar bears can accrue up to 30-40% of their body mass as fat. Some pregnant females
accrue up to around 50% of body mass as fat before they enter winter hibernation [4].
Fig. 2: Insulation layers
These extreme weight gains also differentiate the polar bears from other small polar
animals. Most small animals in the region reduce their metabolic rate significantly when
they go in winter hibernation. For instance, the arctic ground squirrel (or Urocitellus
parryii) can lower its body temperature below the freezing point to conserve maximum
energy. On the other hand, most polar bears don’t hibernate at all during winter months
and instead use their fat reserves to fuel their metabolic activity. Pregnant polar bears
do hibernate during winter, but even then they reduce their body temperature only by
about 6% and their metabolic rate by only about 25% [1].
Fig. 3: A Polar Bear
Behavioral adaptations
One of the key differences between polar bears and brown/black bears is
hibernation. While almost all brown/black bears hibernate during the winter
months, only pregnant polar bears have been known to consistently hiber-
nate during winter. This may seem counterintuitive considering the harsh
winters of the sea-ice habitat. However, there are several physiological rea-
sons that give rise to this behavior. We already discussed the blubber,
which helps them keep up their metabolic activity by burning fat. In fact,
on average polar bears fast for 4 months during the winter. In addition to
metabolism, polar bears also use strategies to maintain their body tempera-
tures (since they are endotherms). A recent study [3] shows that polar bears
have improved expression of genes responsible for nitric oxide production.
Depending on its concentration in the body, it can help polar bears generate
heat instead of energy as a product of cellular metabolism. These combina-
tion of behavioral and physiological adaptions help polar bears upkeep their
metabolism during winters.
Fig. 4: Body temperature changes in a pregnant polar bear. Image from [4]
Fig. 4 shows the changes in body temperature of a pregnant polar bear
through the winter months. pregnant bears may need to fast up to 8 months
and may also need to provide nutrition to cubs. Hence they adopt different
behavioral strategies to tackle the harsh winters by hibernating after partu-
rition.
Acknowledgements
I am grateful for thoughtful suggestions from my group members regarding
the content and the layout of the poster.