Climate Change & Habitat
Thermoregulation
Bear Interactions
DNA & Relatedness
Evolution & Speciation
100
What is the most critical factor explaining polar bear decline in seasonal ice regions?
Lack of hunting seals on sea ice
100
What 3-letter abbreviation stands for the "cellular energy" that polar bears produce less of compared to brown bears?
ATP
100
What bear species is the most carnivorous?
Polar Bear
100
What type of evidence is the most reliable for determining how closely two species are related, even if they look different.
DNA evidence
(remember different environmental pressures leads to different functions of the same structures)
100
What must stop between two populations for speciation to occur?
Reproduction between the two populations
or AKA
Gene Flow (the transfer of genetic material (alleles) from one population to another through the movement of individuals, or their gametes)
200
Which data is most reliable for predicting future polar bear populations. Why?
B) multi‑year climate data reveal hidden patterns better than short term data (Which sometimes can hide the true story).
200
Humans maintain temperature using this type of feedback loop, while polar bears experience the opposite during exertion.
Negative Feedback
Polar bears seem to use positive feedback since all they do is gather heat.
200
What is Mr. Perreault's favorite baseball team?
Atlanta Braves (they used to air for free in Vegas on TBS when I was young)
200
Species 1 and Species 2 have 27% DNA difference, while Species 1 and Species 3 have 18%. If Species 2 and Species 3 have 25% difference.
Which pair shares the most recent common ancestor?
Species 1 and Species 3
200
When two populations can no longer interbreed, they are considered what?
Reproductively isolated
300
Why are the brown bears expanding into the tundra of Wapusk National Park?
Warming of the Tundra is increasing the available food for brown bears
300
The polar bear version of this gene produces more heat and less ATP during cellular respiration. What is that gene?
NOS3 gene
300
Black bears avoid brown bears by using what type of habitat?
woodland/forested habitats
300
On a phylogenetic tree, What is the name for a branching point where two species split from a common ancestor?
a node
300
While the NOS3 gene is a life-saving "adaptation" in a freezing winter, in a warming September, it becomes a liability. What is this called in evolutionary terms?
Evolutionary Trade Off
400
What specific ice ecoregion is most at risk because the ice melts completely in the summer, forcing bears onto land away from their food?
Seasonal Ice ecoregion
400
What scientific term refers to an organism's ability to maintain a stable internal state, such as a constant body temperature (Other than thermoregulation)?
Homeostasis
400
Polar bears often abandon food when brown bears arrive because physical exertion risks what dangerous condition?
Overheating
400
According to the phylogenetic tree below, which two bear species share the most recent common ancestor?
Asian Black Bear & American Black Bear
400
A branching pattern on a phylogenetic tree represents what evolutionary process over time?
Hint: __________ Evolution.
Divergent Evolution (Common ancestors)
500
Because ocean currents naturally push ice against the shore here, what ecoregion provides the most stable year-round hunting platform for polar bears, even in summer?
Convergent Ice
Often called the "Last Ice Area", this region is home to the thickest, oldest multiyear ice and is predicted to be the final refuge for polar bears as climate change continues.
500
The NOS3 gene variant alters what chemical process in the muscles, shifting energy output from "power" to "heat"?
Cellular Respiration
500
During September interactions on land, polar bears are often at a disadvantage because they have been doing what months while waiting for sea ice to return?
fasting / going without food
500
Scientists comparing bear DNA found that two species shared the smallest percent difference in their sequences.
What evolutionary relationship does this indicate they share?
Recent Common Ancestor
500
Speciation requires __________ to prevent gene flow, plus enough time for populations to accumulate _______________.
reproductive isolation
genetic mutations