Bears | Ursidae

Beren | Osos

The heaviest land carnivores, with a massive body, a short tail and plantigrade feet that set the whole sole down; the five toes carry long non-retractile claws used for digging and climbing rather than as weapons. The shearing action of the carnivore's teeth has largely disappeared in this family: the cheekteeth are broad and flat-crowned and grind berries, roots, nuts and insects, which make up most of the menu for most bears. Smell is by far the leading sense. The gait is a slow amble, but they climb and swim well and can run hard over a short distance. Winter is spent in a den in a deep rest from which the animal can be roused and in which body temperature falls only a few degrees; the cubs are born in the middle of that period, small, blind and naked. The polar bear is the exception: out on the sea ice it has become a full meat-eater again.