By Hope-Elena Sardella, March 20th, 2019
When some think of a polar bear, one may imagine the smiling white bear holding a glass bottle of the beverage coca-cola. The famous commercial called “Northern Light,” is the notable beverage conglomerates; Coca-Cola’s, top three commercials of all time (“The Story of Coca-Cola Polar Bears,” 2016). The great white Polar Bear, or called Nanuk or Pihoqahiak in the native Inuit language, which means “An animal worthy of great respect” or “The ever-wandering one.” is a terrestrial mammal also known for its ferocious and astounding strength, as well as it’s a unique, luscious white coat. Although, sadly in recent years the Polar Bear has taken on a new symbolism, one that represents the repercussions of what happens to a high and mighty species if humans can’t get it together enough to reduce fossil fuel consumption. In the last decade, the polar bear now represents just one of the many beautiful species of life that is currently losing everything it knows about its habitat due to a myriad of human-caused pollutions, as well as climate change, being the symptom of a more significant problem.
This essay discusses the world-renowned naturalist Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, and it’s vital internal mechanism natural selection. Secondly, we will examine the difference between Polar Bear’s genotype and phenotype. Thirdly, we will explore some possible current patterns of genetic variations due to the existing natural selection occurring to the Polar Bear. Additionally, I will review the trade-offs and constraints that Polar Bears have made to survive in their degrading natural environment, as well as considering any differences in their interactions with other species. To further reflect one must have a general understanding of Darwin’s theory of evolution to be able to comprehend the process of Natural Selection. Thus, the theory of evolution is to understand that the genetics of species are continually shifting to adapt to their physical world, hence leading to physiological changes in the makeup of species genetics, as well as appearance (“evolution,” 2018). Understanding that an individuals ability to survive rests solely on their development to change with the world and nature if they’re to survive.
The term natural selection defines the changes of frequencies in alleles in the genetics of a species over long periods (“natural selection.” 2018). That aside, the founders of the theory of natural selection, Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace, jointly came across the discovery of natural selection. Equally important, the first to discover natural selection was Darwin, although he wasn’t prompted to publish his work until he discovered that Wallace too had discovered natural selection (“Natural Selection: Charles Darwin & Alfred Russel Wallace”, nd). Together the evolutionary geniuses assisted each other in framing the conditions that must be met to fulfill natural selection. To be more specific, three requirements must be met for natural selection to occur are variations, inheritance, and competition (U.C Berkley, 2010). Firstly, the condition of variation describes the actual genetic makeup, or genotype of the specimen, as well as the phenotype of an organism, which is the natural physical appearance of a species. Secondly, the inheritance condition of natural selection is often referred to as a catalyst on the process, because it uses hybridization, for example when a species integrates and procreates with another species, thus the offspring would be considered a new “hybrid” species, passing on a mixed ratio of genetics to its offspring (Ranganath, 2018). Foundational to this, there has been recent evidence to suggest that Polar Bears could be experiencing some symptoms of natural selection, and are indeed attempting to survive. An example of hybridization within polar bear and grizzly bear populations was conducted by Pongracz et al. (2016) following reports of polar-grizzly bear sightings in the Canadian Arctic in the west. Thus, genetic studies were performed on grizzly bears and polar bears, resulting in eight hybrid cases tracing the lineage to a single polar bear female (F1), and grizzly bear (X32854) hybridization, in which a male grizzly mated with a polar bear having two hybrid bears, as well as mating with his daughter (Pongracz, J.D et al., 2016, pg. 155, para. 4). In this example of polar bear hybridization could just possibly be an isolated incident, but if anything was correct about Darwin’s theory of natural selection is that change is not instantaneously always, and this may possibly one group of individuals instinct to strengthen their offsprings ability to survive.
Currently, the state of the Polar Bear is one in destitution and is in dire need of help. Unfortunately, society may be at the point of no return and we may possibly never reverse the damage that we have inflicted on the world and the polar bears. Furthermore, after reviewing the basic understandings of natural selection, it gives one a broader recognition that natural selection is unavoidable to an extent. The example of a population of polar bears integrating with a grizzly bear population does give one a shred of hope, that maybe our beloved polar bear will make it through the next century with the help of hybridization.
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