This is not an actual bear behavior question. Rather it references a question previously answered in this column. It was stated that the Alaskan Brown Bear and Grizzly Bear are both the same species, Ursus Arctos. I've heard alot of arquments on this and it really comes down to whether you're a lumper or splitter in zoology. My question concerns the fact that I was taught in Mamology the scientific name for the grizzly was Ursus Horribilis.
Grizzly skulls are quite variable.
This led one early taxonomist, C. Hart Merriam, to claim that there were scores of different species of grizzly bears living in Alaska alone. We now have much better understanding of the evolutionary relationships among bear species and tools such as DNA to help answer taxonomic questions. Currently there is only 1 species of brown bear recognized throughout the northern hemisphere, and that is Ursus arctos. You are correct that grizzlies used to be considered Ursus horribilis. But since they have been recognized as the same species as the European brown bear which was named earlier, the scientific name Ursus arctos took precedent.