Mitochondrial DNA Phylogeography of Black Bears (Ursus americanus) in Central and Southern North America: Conservation Implications

The degree of genetic differentiation separating Newfoundland black bears (Ursus americanus hamiltoni) from continental Canadian black bears (U. a. americanus and U. a. cinnamomum) was assessed using sequence data from part of the mitochondrial DNA molecule. All of the individuals from insular Newfoundland, New Brunswick, and Quebec, and most of the individuals from Alberta, had very closely related haplotypes. Haplotypes from Newfoundland animals were more similar to those in eastern Canada than the eastern Canadian lineages were to related lineages in Alberta black bears. Given the previous observation of reduced genetic diversity in Newfoundland black bears, this subspecies likely arose through rapid genetic drift associated with a founder effect during postglacial colonization of the island, and not through long periods of isolation in a glacial refugium.

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Nuclear and Mitochondrial DNA Analyses of Golden Eagles (Aquila chrysaetos canadensis) from Three Areas in Western North America; Initial Results and Conservation Implications

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0164248 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 11 (10) ◽

pp. e0164248 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Erica H. Craig ◽

Jennifer R. Adams ◽

Lisette P. Waits ◽

Mark R. Fuller ◽

Diana M. Whittington

Keyword(s):

Mitochondrial Dna ◽

North America ◽

Western North America ◽

Aquila Chrysaetos ◽

Dna Analyses ◽

Conservation Implications ◽

Golden Eagles ◽

Initial Results

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Black Bears and the Iroquoians

Bears ◽

10.5744/florida/9781683401384.003.0007 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 138-159

Author(s):

Christian Gates St-Pierre ◽

Claire St-Germain ◽

Louis-Vincent Laperrière-Désorcy

Keyword(s):

North America ◽

Ursus Americanus ◽

Black Bear ◽

Black Bears ◽

Minor Role ◽

Northeastern North America ◽

Projectile Points ◽

Economic Role ◽

Faunal Assemblages

The study presented in this chapter uses archaeological and ethnohistorical data to discuss the role of black bears (Ursus americanus) among Pre-Contact Iroquoian societies from Northeastern North America. This role is proving to be complex and multifaceted, and the analysis of the archaeological and ethnohistorical records provide contradictory conclusions. According to the ethnohistorical documents considered in this study, black bear appears to be predominantly mentioned in subsistence and hunting contexts. In contrast, bones from black bear have been identified in a majority of Iroquoian faunal assemblages, but always in small numbers, indicating a ubiquitous, yet minor role for black bear in Pre-Contact Iroquoian foodways. Moreover, ethnonyms, myths, and legends also suggest that the symbolic and identity dimensions of black bear outweighed their economic role. The results of the ZooMS analysis of a set of Iroquoian bone projectile points is especially revealing in this respect.

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Genetic structure of American black bears in the desert southwest of North America: conservation implications for recolonization

Conservation Genetics ◽

10.1007/s10592-006-9192-z ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 8 (3) ◽

pp. 565-576 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Dave P. Onorato ◽

Eric C. Hellgren ◽

Ronald A. Van Den Bussche ◽

Diana L. Doan-Crider ◽

J. Raymond Skiles

Keyword(s):

Genetic Structure ◽

North America ◽

Black Bears ◽

Conservation Implications ◽

Desert Southwest ◽

American Black ◽

American Black Bears

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Low Mitochondrial DNA Variation in Double-crested Cormorants in Eastern North America

Waterbirds ◽

10.1675/1524-4695(2003)026[0196:lmdvid]2.0.co;2 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 26 (2) ◽

pp. 196 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Juliann L. Waits ◽

Michael L. Avery ◽

Mark E. Tobin ◽

Paul L. Leberg

Keyword(s):

Mitochondrial Dna ◽

North America ◽

Eastern North America ◽

Dna Variation

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Microsatellite population structure of Newfoundland black bears (Ursus americanus hamiltoni)

Canadian Journal of Zoology ◽

10.1139/z11-056 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 89 (9) ◽

pp. 831-839 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

H. Dawn Marshall ◽

Edward S. Yaskowiak ◽

Casidhe Dyke ◽

Elizabeth A. Perry

Keyword(s):

Population Structure ◽

Ursus Americanus ◽

Intraspecific Variability ◽

Black Bears ◽

Postglacial Colonization ◽

Correct Assignment ◽

Hair Samples ◽

Males And Females ◽

Two Populations ◽

F Statistics

We investigated population structure of black bears ( Ursus americanus hamiltoni Cameron, 1957) from insular Newfoundland using the microsatellite profiles of 12 loci from three broadly distributed areas (Northern, Baie Verte, and Bonavista peninsulas). Our goals were to revisit earlier findings of low heterozygosity in Newfoundland and increase knowledge of intraspecific variability in black bears, and make inferences about postglacial colonization and contemporary movements of island black bears. Ninety-three individuals (42 males) were identified among 543 hair samples: 21 from Bonavista, 25 from Northern Peninsula, and 47 from Baie Verte. Genetic diversity is relatively low (HE = 0.42) and decreases from northwest to southeast. Small but significant subpopulation differentiation revealed by F statistics is greatest between Northern and Baie Verte peninsulas; it is lower and comparable in the remaining pairwise comparisons. We hypothesize that postglacial colonization proceeded from the Northern Peninsula southeastward. Bears migrated from the Northern Peninsula to Baie Verte at some more distant time in the past, then diverged by genetic drift. More recently, migration occurred from these two populations to Bonavista, characterized by positive FIS indicative of admixture. Tests of biased dispersal and posterior probability of correct assignment to locality reveal contemporary movements of both males and females with historical dispersal attributable to males.

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Mitochondrial DNA "clock" for the Amerinds and its implications for timing their entry into North America.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ◽

10.1073/pnas.91.3.1158 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 91 (3) ◽

pp. 1158-1162 ◽

Cited By ~ 107

Author(s):

A. Torroni ◽

J. V. Neel ◽

R. Barrantes ◽

T. G. Schurr ◽

D. C. Wallace

Keyword(s):

Mitochondrial Dna ◽

North America

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Hibernating black bears have blood chemistry and plasma amino acid profiles that are indicative of long-term adaptive fasting

Canadian Journal of Zoology ◽

10.1139/z05-120 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 83 (9) ◽

pp. 1257-1263 ◽

Cited By ~ 25

Author(s):

T D Lohuis ◽

T D.I Beck ◽

H J Harlow

Keyword(s):

Amino Acids ◽

Ursus Americanus ◽

Muscle Protein ◽

Blood Chemistry ◽

Black Bears ◽

Late Winter ◽

Amino Acid Profiles ◽

Protein Conservation ◽

Branched Chain

Blood samples were drawn from six black bears (Ursus americanus Pallas, 1780) active in the summer and six others in early and late hibernation. Plasma urea:creatinine ratios and concentrations of amino acids, alanine aminotransferase, and aspartate aminotransferase dropped during the winter denning season, suggesting a decreased protein breakdown. Fifteen amino acids (3 branched chain and 12 glucogenic) were lower in the early winter than in the summer, but 6 of these amino acids rose back to summer levels by the late denning season. Hydroxyproline and glycine were also elevated during late winter, suggesting an increase in collagen breakdown. This profile suggests a dynamic process of adaptive fasting and protein conservation during the winter with a mobilization of non-myofibrilar collagen and perhaps smooth muscle protein reserves to augment a potential but slight increased breakdown of skeletal muscle during the late winter.

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