Post by DinosaurMichael on May 31, 2013 5:00:42 GMT 5
Kodiak Bear - Ursus arctos middendorffi
The Kodiak bear (Ursus arctos middendorffi), also known as the Kodiak brown bear or the Alaskan grizzly bear or American brown bear, occupies the islands of the Kodiak Archipelago in South-Western Alaska. Its name in the Alutiiq language is Taquka-aq. It is the largest subspecies of brown bear. Few Kodiak bears have been weighed in the wild, so some of the weights are estimates. Size range for females is from 225 kg (500 lbs) to 315 kg (700 lbs) and for males 360 kg (800 lbs) to 635 kg (1400 lbs). Mature males average 480–533 kg (1,058–1,175 lb) over the course of the year, and can weigh up to 680 kg (1500 lbs) at peak times. Females are typically about 20% smaller and 30% lighter than males and adult sizes are attained when bears are 6 years old. Bears weigh the least when they emerge from their dens in the spring, and can increase their weight by 20–30% during late summer and fall. Bears in captivity can sometimes attain weights considerably greater than those of wild bears. An adult male Kodiak bear stands up to 1.5 m (5 ft) tall at the shoulder when it is standing on all four legs. When standing fully upright on its hind legs, a large male could reach a height of 3 m (10 ft). The largest Kodiak bear on record grew in captivity and died in the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in December 1955, weighing 757 kg (1670 lb). They are the largest brown bear subspecies, and are comparable in size to polar bears. That makes Kodiak bears and polar bears both the two largest members of the bear family and the two largest extant wholly terrestrial carnivores. The standard method of evaluating the size of bears is by measuring their skulls. Most North American hunting organizations and management agencies use calipers to measure the length of the skull (back of sagittal crest on the back of the skull to the front tooth) and the width (maximum width between the zygomatic arches — “cheek bones”). The total skull size is the sum of these two measurements. The largest bear ever killed in North America was from Kodiak Island with a total skull size of 78.1 cm (30.75 in), and 8 of the top 10 brown bears listed in the Boone and Crockett record book are from Kodiak. The average skull size of Kodiak bears that were killed by hunters in the first five years of the 21st century was 63.8 cm (25.1 in) for boars and 55.4 cm (21.8 in) for sows. Although the term “Kodiak bear” is widely used to include all coastal Alaska brown bears, the subspecies only occurs on the islands of the Kodiak Archipelago (Kodiak, Afognak, Shuyak, Raspberry, Uganik, Sitkalidak, and adjacent islands). The Kodiak bear population was estimated to include 3,526 bears in 2005, yielding an estimated archipelago-wide population density of 0.7 bears/square mile (271.2 bears/1000 km²). During the past decade the population has been slowly increasing.
Megalania - Varanus priscus
Megalania ("great roamer"; Greek
?? "great" + "roam") is a giant extinct goanna or monitor lizard. It was part of a megafaunal assemblage that inhabited southern Australia during the Pleistocene, and appears to have disappeared around 40,000 years ago. The first aboriginal settlers of Australia may have encountered living Megalania. The name Megalania prisca was coined by Sir Richard Owen to mean "Ancient Great Roamer"; the name was intended to "reference to the terrestrial nature of the great Saurian". Owen used a modification of the Greek word ?lain? ("I roam"). The close similarity to the Latin word: lania (feminine form of "butcher") has resulted in numerous taxonomic and popular descriptions of Megalania mistranslating the name as: Ancient Giant Butcher. Megalania prisca was originally classified in its own monotypic genus. Its status as a valid genus remains controversial, with many authors preferring to consider it a junior synonym of Varanus, which encompasses all living monitor lizards. As the gender of the genera Megalania and Varanus are different (feminine and masculine, respectively), the epithet prisca changes to priscus (in alignment with the Code of the ICZN). Several studies have attempted to establish the phylogenetic position of Megalania within the Varanidae. An affinity with the Perentie, Australia's largest living lizard, has been suggested based on skull-roof morphology. The most recent comprehensive study proposes a sister-taxon relationship with the Komodo dragon based on neurocranial similarities, with the Lace monitor as the closest living Australian relative. Conversely, the Perentie is considered more closely related to the Gould's and Argus monitors. The lack of complete, or nearly complete fossil skeletons has made it difficult to determine the exact dimensions of Megalania. Early estimates placed the length of the largest individuals at 7 metres (23 ft), with a maximum weight of approximately 600–620 kilograms (1,300–1,400 lb). However, more recent and more rigorous studies give very different results from one another. In 2002, Stephen Wroe determined that Megalania had a maximum length of 4.5 metres (15 ft) and a weight of 331 kilograms (730 lb), while its average length would have been around 3.5 metres (11 ft), and mean body weight would have been between 97–158 kilograms (210–350 lb). He concluded that the earlier estimates reaching lengths of 6 metres (20 ft) or more and a weight of several tons were exaggerations based upon flawed methodologies. However, Ralph Molnar in 2004 determined a range of potential sizes for Megalania (made by scaling up from dorsal vertebrae, after he determined a relationship between dorsal vertebrae length and total body length). If it had a long thin tail like the Lace monitor (Varanus varius), then it would have reached a length of 7.9 metres (26 ft), while if its tail-to-body proportions were more similar to that of the Komodo dragon, then a length of around 7 metres (23 ft) is more likely. Taking the maximal 7 m length, he estimated a weight of 1,940 kilograms (4,300 lb), with a leaner 320 kilograms (710 lb) being average.
The Kodiak bear (Ursus arctos middendorffi), also known as the Kodiak brown bear or the Alaskan grizzly bear or American brown bear, occupies the islands of the Kodiak Archipelago in South-Western Alaska. Its name in the Alutiiq language is Taquka-aq. It is the largest subspecies of brown bear. Few Kodiak bears have been weighed in the wild, so some of the weights are estimates. Size range for females is from 225 kg (500 lbs) to 315 kg (700 lbs) and for males 360 kg (800 lbs) to 635 kg (1400 lbs). Mature males average 480–533 kg (1,058–1,175 lb) over the course of the year, and can weigh up to 680 kg (1500 lbs) at peak times. Females are typically about 20% smaller and 30% lighter than males and adult sizes are attained when bears are 6 years old. Bears weigh the least when they emerge from their dens in the spring, and can increase their weight by 20–30% during late summer and fall. Bears in captivity can sometimes attain weights considerably greater than those of wild bears. An adult male Kodiak bear stands up to 1.5 m (5 ft) tall at the shoulder when it is standing on all four legs. When standing fully upright on its hind legs, a large male could reach a height of 3 m (10 ft). The largest Kodiak bear on record grew in captivity and died in the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in December 1955, weighing 757 kg (1670 lb). They are the largest brown bear subspecies, and are comparable in size to polar bears. That makes Kodiak bears and polar bears both the two largest members of the bear family and the two largest extant wholly terrestrial carnivores. The standard method of evaluating the size of bears is by measuring their skulls. Most North American hunting organizations and management agencies use calipers to measure the length of the skull (back of sagittal crest on the back of the skull to the front tooth) and the width (maximum width between the zygomatic arches — “cheek bones”). The total skull size is the sum of these two measurements. The largest bear ever killed in North America was from Kodiak Island with a total skull size of 78.1 cm (30.75 in), and 8 of the top 10 brown bears listed in the Boone and Crockett record book are from Kodiak. The average skull size of Kodiak bears that were killed by hunters in the first five years of the 21st century was 63.8 cm (25.1 in) for boars and 55.4 cm (21.8 in) for sows. Although the term “Kodiak bear” is widely used to include all coastal Alaska brown bears, the subspecies only occurs on the islands of the Kodiak Archipelago (Kodiak, Afognak, Shuyak, Raspberry, Uganik, Sitkalidak, and adjacent islands). The Kodiak bear population was estimated to include 3,526 bears in 2005, yielding an estimated archipelago-wide population density of 0.7 bears/square mile (271.2 bears/1000 km²). During the past decade the population has been slowly increasing.
Megalania - Varanus priscus
Megalania ("great roamer"; Greek
?? "great" + "roam") is a giant extinct goanna or monitor lizard. It was part of a megafaunal assemblage that inhabited southern Australia during the Pleistocene, and appears to have disappeared around 40,000 years ago. The first aboriginal settlers of Australia may have encountered living Megalania. The name Megalania prisca was coined by Sir Richard Owen to mean "Ancient Great Roamer"; the name was intended to "reference to the terrestrial nature of the great Saurian". Owen used a modification of the Greek word ?lain? ("I roam"). The close similarity to the Latin word: lania (feminine form of "butcher") has resulted in numerous taxonomic and popular descriptions of Megalania mistranslating the name as: Ancient Giant Butcher. Megalania prisca was originally classified in its own monotypic genus. Its status as a valid genus remains controversial, with many authors preferring to consider it a junior synonym of Varanus, which encompasses all living monitor lizards. As the gender of the genera Megalania and Varanus are different (feminine and masculine, respectively), the epithet prisca changes to priscus (in alignment with the Code of the ICZN). Several studies have attempted to establish the phylogenetic position of Megalania within the Varanidae. An affinity with the Perentie, Australia's largest living lizard, has been suggested based on skull-roof morphology. The most recent comprehensive study proposes a sister-taxon relationship with the Komodo dragon based on neurocranial similarities, with the Lace monitor as the closest living Australian relative. Conversely, the Perentie is considered more closely related to the Gould's and Argus monitors. The lack of complete, or nearly complete fossil skeletons has made it difficult to determine the exact dimensions of Megalania. Early estimates placed the length of the largest individuals at 7 metres (23 ft), with a maximum weight of approximately 600–620 kilograms (1,300–1,400 lb). However, more recent and more rigorous studies give very different results from one another. In 2002, Stephen Wroe determined that Megalania had a maximum length of 4.5 metres (15 ft) and a weight of 331 kilograms (730 lb), while its average length would have been around 3.5 metres (11 ft), and mean body weight would have been between 97–158 kilograms (210–350 lb). He concluded that the earlier estimates reaching lengths of 6 metres (20 ft) or more and a weight of several tons were exaggerations based upon flawed methodologies. However, Ralph Molnar in 2004 determined a range of potential sizes for Megalania (made by scaling up from dorsal vertebrae, after he determined a relationship between dorsal vertebrae length and total body length). If it had a long thin tail like the Lace monitor (Varanus varius), then it would have reached a length of 7.9 metres (26 ft), while if its tail-to-body proportions were more similar to that of the Komodo dragon, then a length of around 7 metres (23 ft) is more likely. Taking the maximal 7 m length, he estimated a weight of 1,940 kilograms (4,300 lb), with a leaner 320 kilograms (710 lb) being average.
