Bear with longest tail

Bears are famous for only having extremely short tails. The species with the longest tail, on average, is the Asian sloth bear Melursus ursinus, whose tail measures 15–18 centimetres (5.9–7 inches). Early species of bear possessed longer, more developed tails, but during evolution the tail gradually diminished in size. Evolutionists believe that this decrease in size occurred because the tail served no useful purpose. In their close relatives, the dogs, the tail plays a very important role in communication, and so has remained long and prominent, whereas during display behaviour bears tend to confront or pose face on, so that even if they possessed a longer tail, it would not be visible, and therefore would serve no useful purpose in communication.

According to carnivore expert Luke Hunter (2011), individual specimens of other bear species may occasionally have longer tails than the sloth bear, but the sloth bear maintains the record as a species based on lower range estimates – see his recorded figures below:

<p>Asiatic black bear: <12 cm</p>

<p>Spectacled bear: <10 cm</p>

<p>Sun bear: 3–7 cm</p>

<p>Sloth bear: 8–17 cm</p>

<p>American black bear: <12 cm</p>

<p>Brown bear: <6.5–21 cm</p>

<p>Polar bear: <6–21 cm</p>

<p>Giant panda: <8–16 cm</p>