Are bears closer to cats or dogs? Nope, bears are more closely related to dogs than they are to cats. In fact, they’re in the same family called Caniformia. All of them—cats, dogs, bears—share a common ancestor, though.
What is taxonomic classification?
Taxonomy is the process of classifying
according to their evolutionary history.
It’s important to understand how scientists classify organisms, even though it can be boring. Here is a basic summary of classification: without understanding them, we cannot determine whether two objects are related.
To comprehend “relatedness” from an evolutionary perspective, one must comprehend the human classification scheme that allows them to make sense of the world. The science of naming organisms and classifying them into related groups is known as taxonomy.
Think of taxonomy as a pyramid where the top represents the most broad, all-encompassing definitions, and the bottom represents the most focused, in-depth definitions. In the second most general group, the six kingdoms, for instance, comprise fungi, animals, plants, and more. Polar bears, grizzly bears, and black bears are among the closely related creatures that fall under the most specific classification, species.
Are bears related to dogs?
Bears are related to dogs through a common ancestor.
The primary inquiry pertains to the evolutionary background of dogs and bears. Asking whether two animal species are “related” means asking whether they are closely related genetically.
To quickly respond to your inquiry, no, bears and dogs are not related. They do, however, have a common ancient ancestor with both species. Furthermore, it is important to remember that all living things are interconnected. Both fungi and jellyfish and humans have a common genetic ancestor, but our relationship with chimpanzees is substantially closer. How closely and how far apart (in time) are species related is the real (and likely more useful) question.
The common ancestor of bears and dogs lived between 62 and 32 million years ago, as you will soon learn. Even though they are both mammals, they have diverged from their shared ancestor as of late. Let’s dive into more details of this relationship!.
How closely related are dogs and bears?
Dogs and bears are not related by taxonomy family, but they are related by suborder.
As we previously established, there are taxonomic classifications that can reveal the precise degree of relationship between dogs and bears, even though they are not directly related. This brings us to the question at hand: how closely related are dogs and bears? Now, you might have read in other places that they are not connected. In actuality, though, both animals are somewhat related!
Bears and dogs both belong to the Caniformia suborder, which is named for carnivorans that resemble dogs. This taxonomy comprises mustelids, foxes, raccoons, dogs, bears, and wolves. This order contains many species, which can be identified most precisely by their non-retractable claws and general omnivorous nature.
Lions, cats, and other felines are descended from Feliformia, a suborder of carnivorans that split off from this suborder. Within the sub-order Caniformia, nine families currently exist. The Canidae family includes dogs and wolves, whereas the Ursidae family includes bears.
Therefore, based on their respective sub-orders, bears and dogs are closely related. Nonetheless, given that they come from different families but are in the same sub-order, they are somewhat related in terms of their families. Lastly, in terms of species, they are distantly related.
To put it briefly, bears and dogs belong to different families and species, but they are related by suborder. All things considered, dogs, wolves, and bears are related by their sub-order and share a relatively close ancestor.
FAQ
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