Talk:Polar bear

Polar bear range map

My impression is that Polar bear range map is partly wrong regarding its message that there are polar bears on Greenland's inland ice, see c:File talk:Polar bear range map.png. Unfortunately, both editors involved seem to be inactive since 2018 and 2020 respectively. Is anybody able to modify the map? --Kuhni74 (talk) 09:23, 27 August 2023 (UTC)

may I resume my question? --Kuhni74 (talk) 22:19, 20 February 2024 (UTC)

Well lmma give it a try

Or find somebody to help out Kyle4835 (talk) 16:27, 10 June 2024 (UTC)

 Done --Kuhni74 (talk) 17:21, 19 December 2024 (UTC)

Dichromat

It states in Characteristics that polar bears are dichromats and lack the cones for green. This was changed sometime since last August, but I haven’t figured out the revision history interface to figure out when.

Mammalian dichromats have cones sensitive to more-or-less blue and more-or-less green, but lack cones sensitive to more-or-less red. If polar bears lacked green-sensitive cones, they would be monochromats, so this is likely vandalism.

The previous text mentioned blue-violet and yellow-green, but lacking a reference, I think it is best simply to specify that they are dichromats, which is linked. Applying human color terms to peak sensitivities in nanometers is somewhat subjective, and unless the specific peaks for polar bears, or at least for Ursidae, have been measured, it’s less than useful.

I’d fix it, but I haven’t done much editing in many years, and I don’t want to just jump into a semi-protected article, especially when the bulk of recent edits have been by a small group of editors. Curtis Clark (talk) 21:06, 19 February 2024 (UTC)

The source says that polar bears have L (for yellow but I think this is an error, it should be red) and S cone cells (for blue-violet) and that "humans have an additional cone in the middle that is most sensitive to green, giving us trichromatic vision". LittleJerry (talk) 19:54, 24 February 2024 (UTC)

Axl? LittleJerry (talk) 13:19, 25 February 2024 (UTC)

I found this reference by Peichl. It states that polar bears have L- and S-cones. They don't have M-cones. This seems to be a feature of semi-aquatic mammals including river otters and pygmy hippotamuses. Axl ¤ [Talk] 18:09, 25 February 2024 (UTC)

Axl Can some L cones be suited more for yellow light then red? LittleJerry (talk) 21:45, 25 February 2024 (UTC)

Hmm, I'm not sure. I found this reference. I shall keep looking. Axl ¤ [Talk] 00:32, 27 February 2024 (UTC)

This article appears to confirm what I wrote. Curtis Clark (talk) 06:17, 7 June 2024 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 25 January 2025

Under the title 'Relationship with humans: Conflict' it says, "...polar bears, specifically subadults...". Most of the younglings who get into conflicts with humans, are male (may be connected to them being 'hormonal teenage boys' and needing more food due to their size). Perhaps it could say: "...polar bears, mostly subadult males...". Thank you for your attention. Lycaon Pictus Hyaenidae (talk) 19:20, 25 January 2025 (UTC)

 Not done: "specifically" and "mostly" mean different things. If you have reason to believe that the latter is more accurate, then you need to explain why. M.Bitton (talk) 00:27, 26 January 2025 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 30 August 2025

In characteristics, when they are describing the animal fattening up, please mention how the fat is called blubber.

CONTEXT: I changed the Wikipedia page for blubber to include polar bears (it didn't before). It's important because few animals have blubber, so its a particular characteristic. 174.17.16.40 (talk) 20:46, 30 August 2025 (UTC)

 Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. You need to provide the exact wording of your proposed change, and a reliable source. Day Creature (talk) 21:06, 30 August 2025 (UTC)

For information

Commentary by a professional scientist about a recently published scientific paper noting that the findings of this paper have been misrepresented in popular press accounts about it. Adding this as a heads-up to watch out for edits citing the press misrepresentations, rather than the original study - MPF (talk) 12:45, 17 December 2025 (UTC)