Ursus arctos Linnaeus 1758

Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn, 2005, Order Carnivora, Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 1, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 532-628 : 588

Ursus arctos Linnaeus 1758

Ursus arctos Linnaeus 1758 , Syst. Nat., 10th ed., Vol. 1: 47 .

Type Locality: "sylvis Europæ frigidæ" restricted by Thomas (1911 a) to "Northern Sweden." .

Vernacular Names: Brown Bear.

Subspecies: :

Subspecies Ursus arctos subsp. arctos Linnaeus 1758

Subspecies Ursus arctos subsp. alascensis Merriam 1896

Subspecies Ursus arctos subsp. beringianus Middendorff 1851

Subspecies Ursus arctos subsp. californicus Merriam 1896

Subspecies Ursus arctos subsp. collaris F. G. Cuvier 1824

Subspecies Ursus arctos subsp. crowtheri Schinz 1844

Subspecies Ursus arctos subsp. dalli Merriam 1896

Subspecies Ursus arctos subsp. gyas Merriam 1902

Subspecies Ursus arctos subsp. horribilis Ord 1815

Subspecies Ursus arctos subsp. isabellinus Horsfield 1826

Subspecies Ursus arctos subsp. lasiotus Gray 1867

Subspecies Ursus arctos subsp. middendorffi Merriam 1896

Subspecies Ursus arctos subsp. pruinosus Blyth 1854

Subspecies Ursus arctos subsp. sitkensis Merriam 1896

Subspecies Ursus arctos subsp. stikeenensis Merriam 1914

Subspecies Ursus arctos subsp. syriacus Hemprich and Ehrenberg 1828

Distribution: Afghanistan, Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bhutan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, N and W China, Croatia, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Japan (Hokkaido), Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Macdeonia, N Mexico, Mongolia, North Korea, Norway, N Pakistan, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Syria, Turkey, Ukraine, W USA.

Conservation: CITES – Appendix I as U. arctos ( Mexico, Bhutan, China, and Mongolia populations) and U. a. isabellinus ; otherwise Appendix II. U. S. ESA – Endangered as U. arctos pruinosus , as U. arctos in Mexico, and as U. a. arctos in Italy. Threatened as U. a. horribilis in the USA (48 conterminous states) except where listed as Experimental Non Essential Populations in portions of Idaho and Montana; IUCN – Extinct as U. a. nelsoni , otherwise Lower Risk (lc).

Discussion: Reviewed by Erdbrink (1953), Couturier (1954), Rausch (1963 a), Kurtén (1973), Hall (1984) and Pasitschniak-Arts (1993). Ognev (1931) and Allen (1938) recognized U. pruinosus as distinct; not followed by Ellerman and Morrison-Scott (1951), Gao (1987), and Stroganov (1962). Lönnberg (1923 b) believed that differences between pruinosus and arctos warranted subgeneric distinction as (Mylarctos) pruinosus ; however, this was not supported by Pocock's (1932 b) thorough revision. Synonyms allocated according to Ellerman and Morrison-Scott (1966) and Hall (1984).