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Syrian brown bear

subspecies of mammal

Specimen drawers, botanical folios and brass scientific instruments under study light
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 11, 2026
Entity authorityQ839509 ↗
Source-derived summary

The Syrian brown bear (Ursus arctos syriacus, formally Ursus arctos arctos ) is a medium-sized and endangered subspecies of brown bear native to the Middle East and West-Central Asia, particularly around the Caucasus Mountains.

Characteristics

The Syrian brown bear's fur is usually very light brown and straw-coloured. The hair on the withers is longer, with a grey-brown base, and is often a different shade from the rest of the body, seen in some individuals as a dark stripe running across the back. The lighter colors usually appear at higher altitudes. Their legs are commonly darker than the rest of their body. It is the only known bear in the world to have white claws. It is a rather small bear. Adult males have skulls measuring approximately 30–40 cm (12–16 in). The Syrian brown bear weighs up to 550 lb (250 kg), and measures from 101–140 cm (40–55 in) from nose to tail.

Populations in the Caucasus were thought to belong to Ursus arctus syriacus, and to overlap parts of the Eurasian brown bear's range.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Syrian brown bear” as subspecies of mammal. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Syrian, brown and bear.

Editorial reviewUseful for establishing the present vocabulary of the subject while preserving a route back to the evidence on which that vocabulary rests. The current 174-word lead offers orientation but no explicit four-digit date, so chronology should not be assumed. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Syrian, brown and bear providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Syrian brown bear”, the useful work is to connect “subspecies of mammal” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 11, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q839509. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.

Critical limits

A general summary may omit uncertainty, sample limits or methodological disagreement that is explicit in the technical record. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Check terminology, classification and the date of the cited evidence. Scientific names and technical consensus can change while older records retain historical value.

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Primary datasets, specimen catalogues, standards bodies and the most recent peer-reviewed literature.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Syrian brown bear”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Syrian brown bear primary sources, Syrian brown bear archive and Syrian research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Syrian brown bear”?
  2. Has classification or technical consensus changed since the cited source?
  3. Which observation, specimen, dataset or publication supports the account?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Syrian brown bear” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.