BEARS 511 
mainland of Alaska, is also a huge animal, slightly smaller than the 
one from Kodiak Island, with more resemblance to an ordinary brown 
bear than to a grizzly. The grisly or grizzly of the Rocky Mountains 
is a smaller bear, with longer, straighter, and whiter claws, and is 
generally regarded as representing a second species (U. horribilts). 
A race of this species is the Barren-Ground bear (U. h. richardson) ; 
and the species seems to be represented in Asia by the Tian Shan 
U. h. leuconyx. The last member of the group is the African bear 
(U. arctus crowther), of North-Western Africa, still imperfectly known. 
The extinct cave-bear (U. speleus) is a large species allied to the brown 
bear. 
The little blue bear (U. pruinosus) of Tibet, with more or less of 
white on the head and shoulders, seems to form a distinct species. The 
same is the case with the American black bear (U. americanus), which 
exhibits distinctive features in the skull and teeth, and is generally 
black, although it may be grey, or even white. Not improbably the 
Himalayan black bear (U. torquatus), which may be recognised by the 
conspicuous white gorget on the breast, is a relative of the last-named 
species. In Japan it is represented by the Japanese black bear 
(U. japonicus). One of the smallest species of the genus is the very 
distinct Malay bear (U. malayanus), which ranges into Sze-chuen ; and 
allied to this is the spectacled bear (U. ornatus) of the Peruvian and 
Bolivian Andes, distinguished by the light-coloured rings generally sur- 
rounding the eyes, from which it derives its name. 
The most distinct of all the species included in the genus Ursus is 
the Polar bear (U. marztimus), so distinct, indeed, that many naturalists 
consider it ought to form a genus by itself. Externally its chief charac- 
teristics are its white coat, and the presence of a certain amount of 
hair on the soles of the feet ; both these peculiarities being evidently 
adaptations to the Arctic habitat of the animal. Very old Polar bears 
exhibit a tendency to the development of a brownish tinge in the fur. 
Last of all comes the Indian sloth-bear (Melursus ursinus), which is so 
different from the other kinds as to represent a genus by itself. It is 
too well known an animal to need description, some of its characteristics 
being the long and bare snout, the ragged, wiry hair, extensile tongue, 
small cheek-teeth, and the diminished number of front teeth. 
