Blog 7: Intro to Evolutionary Tree Project

For the second bio research project of the year, Emma and I have decided to study the evolution of bears by analyzing and researching bear evolutionary trees and cladograms. To start, we have begun preliminary research on common bear behaviors. We discovered that most bears have very good sense of smell (their strongest sense), they see and hear well, and they can run at least 37 mph. Additionally, all mothers are very protective of their cubs, their intelligence is comparable with those of the great apes, and bears treat other bears like they would humans. Most bears are also not ferocious and have a fairly calm temperament. However, some characteristics tend to vary among the different bear species. Furthermore, we have decided to specifically research hibernation and how it changes for different bears. According to our tree, there are eight bear species. We did some research on each species and wrote down whether or not they hibernate fully, semi, or not at all. Here is what we have found:
Asiatic Black– semi-hibernate
Polar– do not hibernate
Sun– do not hibernate
Sloth– do not hibernate
American Black– do hibernate
Andean (Spectacled)– do not hibernate
Giant Panda– do not hibernate
Brown– do hibernate
We are going to do more research and are hoping to discover by the end what made some bears not hibernate anymore or start hibernating. Was it environmental or gene related? Are the bears that do hibernate closer to the common ancestor? Do the bears' common ancestor(s) hibernate? We hope to answer these questions and know more about bear hibernation and how it evolved. Will keep updated as we continue to research!