We’re going to explore a particular kind of hybridisation today- the kind that produces grolar bears. As the name might suggest, this refers to the offspring of a grizzly bear and a polar bear. Its existence- and that of cases like it- also allow us to put something called the biological species concept under scrutiny…
Sources for this episode: 1) Cain, M. L., Bowman, W. D. and Hacker, S. D. (2011), Ecology (Second Edition). Sunderland, Massachusetts, Sinauer Associated Ltd. 2) Callaway, E., New Scientist (2010), Neanderthal genome reveals interbreeding with humans (online) [Accessed 03/08/2021]. 3) Campbell, N. A., Urry, L. A., Cain, M. L., Wasserman, S. A., Minorsky, P. V. and Reece, J. B. (2018), Biology: a global approach, 11th edition (Global Edition), Harlow, Pearson Education Limited. 4) Cooke, F., Dingle, H., Hutchinson, S., McKay, G., Schodde, R., Tait, N. and Vogt, R. (2008), The Encyclopedia of Animals: A Complete Visual Guide (p.370). Sydney: Weldon Owen Pty Ltd. 5) Wei-Haas, M., National Geographic (2018), Ancient Girl’s Parents Were Two Different Human Species (online) [Accessed 03/08/2021]. 6) Author unknown, BBC Newsround (2021), Have you ever heard of a ‘pizzly’ bear? (online) [Accessed 02/08/2021]. 7) Author unknown, Understanding Evolution (berkeley.edu), (date unknown), Misconceptions about evolution (online) [Accessed 03/08/2021].8) Author unknown, WWF (date unknown), Top 10 facts about polar bears (online) [Accessed 03/08/2021].