Tag Archives: 3-d computer models

Biologists Report More Bad News for Polar Bears

*Climate change will force them south, where they are unsuited for the diet*

A polar bear breaks through thin Arctic Ocean ice Aug. 23, 2009. Image credit: Canadian Coast Guard/USGS

Will polar bears survive in a warmer world? UCLA life scientists present new evidence that their numbers are likely to dwindle.

As polar bears lose habitat due to global warming, these biologists say, they will be forced southward in search of alternative sources of food, where they will increasingly come into competition with grizzly bears. 

To test how this competition might unfold, the UCLA biologists constructed three-dimensional computer models of the skulls of polar bears and grizzly bears —  a subspecies of brown bears — and simulated the process of biting. The models enabled them to compare the two species in terms of how hard they can bite and how strong their skulls are.  (more…)

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