• FundMECFS
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    1 month ago

    Fun fact: Grizzlies and Polar Bears are the same species according to the Biological Species Concept.

    Meaning they interbreed in the wild (somewhat rare), and produce viable offspring that can have babies as well.

    We’re actually noticing this happening more and more with climate change. As Grizzly populations move further and further north, they’re encountering polar bears more often and are more likely to mate. Some scientists actually think within the next couple centuries due to arctic sea ice pretty much disappearing polar bears will either go extinct, or interbreed with grizzlies so much that there isn’t a “pure” polar bear left. Most likely a mix of both.

    • LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net
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      1 month ago

      There are tons and tons and tons of species that can do this. It’s not clear to me what the prevailing species concept is nowadays, if we’re even still following one.

    • xwolpertinger@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      Fun fact: Grizzlies and Polar Bears are the same species according to the Biological Species Concept.

      Calling it that gives it too much credit, it is something thought up in the 17th/18th century without any concept of genetics and evolution.

      Which might explain why it breaks down almost instantly under any amount of scrutiny.

      • barsoap@lemm.ee
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        1 month ago

        It’s a category. All lines are arbitrary to a degree and “interbreeds and produces viable offspring” is not exceedingly arbitrary. You can have arguments around populations which could and would interbreed if they weren’t geographically distinct, you can argue about whether offspring needs to be viable no matter which way around the sexes of the parents are, or how large the percentage of viable offspring needs to be, but in the end, yep it makes sense to have a distinction somewhere around that bunch of criteria.

        House cats and European wild cats are considered distinct species not because they’re genetically incompatible, but because they don’t interbreed to any significant degree – too many behavioural differences, and we’re not speaking about culture, here. So even if they could intermingle in theory in practice they don’t, so they stay separate, so they’re different species.

        It’s kind of… a behavioural view on the genome? If you have a better idea, field it, there has to be some dividing line because taxa for the taxonomy god.

      • bluewing@lemm.ee
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        1 month ago

        Close enough that we probably helped bred them out of existence. Neanderthal genetic markers show up with some regularity in certain modern human populations.

        Edit to add: While humans didn’t breed them out of existence, we certainly did intermix with them. And that does help to maintain their existence yet today.

    • Klear@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      Snapping out of your fantasy as you’re being eaten alive is a bad move.

        • dejected_warp_core@lemmy.world
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          1 month ago

          Yikes.

          For the uninitiated, that’s like having your life flash before your eyes but all you remember is every vivid detail from Evangelion.

  • Oniononon@sopuli.xyzBanned
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    1 month ago

    They may kill SEAL with a slap but how many polar bear slaps does it take to kill members of other special forces?

    • s_s@lemm.ee
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      1 month ago

      Also.

      Some black bears are brown.

      Some brown bears are black.

      Good luck everyone.

    • FooBarrington@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      Bear is white, say good night, and tuck it in and tell it a story. Once the bear has fallen asleep snuggle up to it, so it has a fresh morning snack.

    • lobut@lemmy.ca
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      1 month ago

      I remember somewhere they were saying you should remove your clothes (slowly piece by piece) with a polar bear. The bear will get distracted and start sniffing your clothes.

      I think it was a QI episode and then David Mitchell said something like that Polar Bear being happier in the fact that the human would be better to eat this time because it didn’t have a wrapper.

      • ikidd@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        I think removing your clothes is just so the bear doesn’t choke to death on your Nikes.

      • The Giant Korean@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        This works because polar bears are super horny. Its desire to rend you limb from limb will be replaced by overwhelming lust. Of course then you’ve got a completely different issue to deal with, but at least you might not die.

    • itslilith
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      1 month ago

      Turn around is a bad idea

      If it’s brown, lie down

      • TheDoozer@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        Oh, I had understood that to mean lay down facedown (with your back to it) since people usually have backpacks while hiking/hunting, and it provides some measure of protection.

    • VividNight@midwest.social
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      29 days ago

      Black bears are pretty skittish, so usually acting big & loud is enough to make them jog away, but I’m not sure someone could take them in a fight if the black bear was cornered.

      Speaking of which, bears are extremely protective of their cubs, so if you ever see any cubs, running away from them at full speed is probably the best choice.

  • BigBenis@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    180 seconds (3 minutes) is a hilarious overestimation of any fighter’s ability. Unless you’re counting the time it takes to bleed out.

  • Donebrach@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    Fighting bears isn’t that common of an encounter. I’d be more worried about deer and coyotes or even a single cougar than the off chance of encountering a bear. They will definitely fuck you up but it’s not like they are starting their day to be like “Imma go murder a human” in the same way other urban-adjacent animals are—I think they just wanna get that sweet sweet pick-a-nic basket.

    dies from turkey assault

    • tatann@lemm.ee
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      1 month ago

      You mean there are single cougars in your local area ? I always thought these ads were lying

    • FordBeeblebrox@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      Moose are not to be trifled with either. If you accidentally put yourself between mama and baby, you’re gonna have a real bad time

    • Holyhandgrenade@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      Polar bears will absolutely try to hunt you. They’ll eat anything that moves. The only way to deal with a polar bear is a gun.

        • kakler bitmap@lemmy.world
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          1 month ago

          The ancient drawing was by a caveman trying to convince his caveman bros that he could totally take a polar bear.

      • djsoren19
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        1 month ago

        Tbh, even if you have a gun, your odds are not 100%. You’re firing at essentially a biological tank, small caliber fire might cause pain and eventually kill a polar bear with non-vital shots, but it’s not going to stop one barreling down on you.

        Realistically, you need to be a decent enough marksmen to aim for a vital point, all while making your will saves because a giant monster is charging you. I’m pretty sure most humans are still fucked.

        • Holyhandgrenade@lemmy.world
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          27 days ago

          Yup they’re dangerous as fuck. My mom (kindergarten director) once visited a kindergarten in Svalbard, Norway where there’s a rifle hanging on the wall above where the kids get dressed.
          The idea being that if a polar bear wanders towards the village, it’s essential to be able to fight it off and protect the children.

    • captain_oni
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      1 month ago

      This is what a bear would say to lull us into a false sense of security.

  • Mac@mander.xyz
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    1 month ago

    Motorcycle helmets are purposefully not-hard. Odd comparison.

  • casmael@lemm.ee
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    1 month ago

    *first floor windows don’t go nuts guys no way that lad is reaching all the way to the second floor

    • bluewing@lemm.ee
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      1 month ago

      This is truer than you know. Well, the killing a polar bear part.

      When Eskimos really got modern metallic cartridge firearms post WW2, they for some reason decided that the .223 Remington cartridge, (precursor of the 5.56 NATO round), was the best thing ever to hunt with. And you can be positive more than one polar bear got itself killed by the mommy of the the 5.56 NATO. And a bolt action rifle in .223 remains popular with them to this day.

  • multifariace@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    The bear in the mural does not look tall enough to look in a second story window. Is that a young one?