The "King" of the bears - comparison between the Polar bear and the Brown bear

[GuateGojira]

Polar bear (Ursus maritimus):
 
Normally, this species of bear is described as the largest by scientists, although some sources still claim that in fact, they are smaller, on average, than the Kodiak one.
 
According with Gerard Wood (1978), the average adult male measures 2.36 m nose to tail (tail 76-203 cm), stands 1.21 m at the shoulder and weighs 383-408 kg (adult females are a third smaller). Although these figures seem reliable, Wood doesn’t show his references, so we don’t know the sample size, range and other data useful for comparison.
 
Here are the images of Gerard Wood's book "Animal facts and feats" of 1978:
 

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

Although it seems acceptable, the record of the Polar bear of 1002 kg seems somewhat exaggerated by some authorities and some claimed that most be verified (Christiansen, 1999).
 
About the scientific records, here are a few images:
 

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

Record polar bear of 699 kg and other pictures of this species:
http://wildfact.com/forum/topic-polar-bears-data-pictures-and-videos

Of course, this data is not exhaustive, but show the largest specimens capture by scientists in the field.

According with this data, the heaviest polar bear recorded was a male of 699 kg, however those exceptionally large, that could not be weighed in any form, were estimated at 800 kg.
 
What I found as a clear exaggeration is the shoulder height of 170 cm. That size correspond more to a measurement over curves as is close to the height of a large specimen of Arctodus simus, a prehistoric giant bear species. Other exaggeration is the claim that such a bear could reach 4 m tall (in two legs), especially when the largest male reported was of “just” 3.39 m. This proves that even in scientific literature, some exaggerations still exist.
 
This is all for today, but tomorrow I will bring the data of the Brown bear, and you will be surprised.
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