Ursus maritimus tyrannus

Ursus maritimus tyrannus; Temporal range: Late Pleistocene PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
	Hypothetical restoration
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Family:	Ursidae
Genus:	Ursus
Species:	U. maritimus
Subspecies:	†U. m. tyrannus
Trinomial name
	Ursus maritimus tyrannus; Kurtén, 1964

Ursus maritimus tyrannus (meaning tyrant polar bear) is an extinct subspecies of polar bear, known from a single fragmentary ulna found in the gravels of the Thames at Kew Bridge, London. It was named by the Finnish paleontologist Björn Kurtén in 1964 and is interpreted to represent a relatively large subadult individual: the ulna is estimated to have been 48.5 cm (19 in) long when complete,[1] for comparison, modern subadult polar bear ulnae are 36–43 cm (14–17 in) long.[1]

An unpublished reinvestigation of the fossil suggests that the fossil is actually a brown bear.[2]

References

Kurtén, B. (1964). "The evolution of the polar bear, Ursus maritimus Phipps". Acta Zoologica Fennica. 108: 1–26. hdl:10138/37762.
Ingólfsson, Ólafur; Wiig, Øystein (2009). "Late Pleistocene fossil find in Svalbard: the oldest remains of a polar bear (Ursus maritimus Phipps, 1744) ever discovered". Polar Research. 28 (3): 455. doi:10.1111/j.1751-8369.2008.00087.x.

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[kurten1964-1] Kurtén, B. (1964). "The evolution of the polar bear, Ursus maritimus Phipps". Acta Zoologica Fennica. 108: 1–26. hdl:10138/37762.

[2] Ingólfsson, Ólafur; Wiig, Øystein (2009). "Late Pleistocene fossil find in Svalbard: the oldest remains of a polar bear (Ursus maritimus Phipps, 1744) ever discovered". Polar Research. 28 (3): 455. doi:10.1111/j.1751-8369.2008.00087.x.