Post by Admin on Sept 18, 2013 20:40:56 GMT
Andean bear ( Tremarctos ornatus ) The only South American species of bear, and the largest carnivore on the South American continent, this "spectacled bear" is found in the Andes Mountains and has become more commonly known as the Andean bear.
Little is known about these rare bears, due to minimal ( though increasing ) investigation and the remoteness of the areas where they occur. Rings of yellow white-gold color around the eyes are referred to as spectacles; thus the species' name ( ornatus ). The Andean bears were at one time revered, considered by the Incas to be divine beings.
"The Sectacled ( Andean ) bear evolved as the sole bear species isolated in South America after the end of the last ice age," according to Lance Craighead in Bears of the World. It lives in a tropical climate, its habitat and range spanning the equator. The animal's color is black, or brown with black shading, with yellowish white bands across the base of the nose and sometimes across the forehead, jaws, cheeks, throat, and chest. The highly visible markings are variable enough to be used to identify individuals. The fur is thick, with medium-length hair, and the head is large, with heavy jaw muscles and a short-faced profile ( it is the last living species of the evolutionary short-faced bear ). It does not hibernate, and the gestation period is prolonged, with delayed implantatation. More vegetarian and tree-dwelling ( arboreal ) than most species of bears, it is shy, solitary, and cautious.
From, The Bear Almanac - Second Edition.
Little is known about these rare bears, due to minimal ( though increasing ) investigation and the remoteness of the areas where they occur. Rings of yellow white-gold color around the eyes are referred to as spectacles; thus the species' name ( ornatus ). The Andean bears were at one time revered, considered by the Incas to be divine beings.
"The Sectacled ( Andean ) bear evolved as the sole bear species isolated in South America after the end of the last ice age," according to Lance Craighead in Bears of the World. It lives in a tropical climate, its habitat and range spanning the equator. The animal's color is black, or brown with black shading, with yellowish white bands across the base of the nose and sometimes across the forehead, jaws, cheeks, throat, and chest. The highly visible markings are variable enough to be used to identify individuals. The fur is thick, with medium-length hair, and the head is large, with heavy jaw muscles and a short-faced profile ( it is the last living species of the evolutionary short-faced bear ). It does not hibernate, and the gestation period is prolonged, with delayed implantatation. More vegetarian and tree-dwelling ( arboreal ) than most species of bears, it is shy, solitary, and cautious.
From, The Bear Almanac - Second Edition.