California golden bear
| California golden bear | |
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Extinct (1922)
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| Subspecies: | U. arctos californicus
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| Ursus arctos californicus Merriam 1896, pp. 76–77
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The California golden bear or California grizzly (Ursus arctos californicus) is an extinct subspecies of the brown bear. The California golden bear disappeared from the state of California in 1922, when the last one was shot in Tulare County. In 1866, a grizzly weighing 2,200 pounds was killed in Valley Center, California, the largest grizzly in bear history.[1]
Symbolism
The California golden bear is the official state animal,[2] and it appears on the Flag of California.[3] It is alluded to in the names of the sports teams of the University of California, Berkeley (the California Golden Bears), and of the University of California, Los Angeles (the UCLA Bruins) and in the mascot of University of California, Riverside (Scottie the Bear, dressed in a Highland kilt).
Extinct
The last California Brown Bear was shot in Tulare County in August 1922.
References
- ^ "Valley Center History Museum". Retrieved 5 May 2012.
- ^ "History and Culture - State Symbols". California State Library. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
- ^ California State Legislature (1911), "An act to select and adopt the bear flag as the state flag of California", The statutes of California and amendments to the codes passed at the thirty-ninth session of the legislature, San Francisco: Bancroft-Whitney, p. 6, retrieved 24 September 2011
- Merriam, C. Hart (13 April 1896), "Preliminary Synopsis of the American Bears", Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, 10: 65–83 + plates IV–VI, retrieved 23 September 2011
- Wozencraft, W. C. (2005). "Subspecies Ursus arctos californicus". In Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 589. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
Further reading
- Merriam, C. Hart (13 August 1914), "Description of Thirty apparently New Grizzly and Brown Bears from North America", Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, 27: 173–196, retrieved 24 September 2011
- Merriam, C. Hart (6 September 1916), "Nineteen Apparently New Grizzly and Brown Bears from Western America", Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, 29: 133–154, retrieved 24 September 2011
- Hall, E. Raymond (10 August 1984), "Geographic variation among brown and grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) in North America", Special publication 13, University of Kansas Museum of Natural History, retrieved 24 September 2011
- Miller, Craig R.; Waits, Lisette P.; Joyce, Paul (December 2006), "Phylogeography and mitochondrial diversity of extirpated brown bear (Ursus arctos) populations in the contiguous United States and Mexico" (PDF), Molecular Ecology, 15 (14): 4477–4485, doi:10.1111/j.1365-294X.2006.03097.x, PMID 17107477, retrieved 24 September 2011
- Solnit, Rebecca; Caron, Mona (2010), A California Bestiary, Berkeley, CA: Heyday Books, pp. 13–15, ISBN 978-1-59714-125-3
External links
Data related to Ursus arctos californicus at Wikispecies- "Ursus arctos californicus". Integrated Taxonomic Information System.
- "Ursus arctos californicus Merriam, 1896" at the Encyclopedia of Life
- Shaggy God - Topic: Ursus arctos californicus Merriam, 1896
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