Re: Important organs and structures inside a polar bear?

Dear Kristen,

Since the polar bear is a mammal it will have essentially all the same major organs and structures that other mammals have internally. This would include things like a four-chambered heart, paired lungs attached to trachea and bronchii, a complete gastrointestinal (GI) tract, a pair of kidneys attached to a urinary bladder by ureters with a urethra leaving the bladder, a central and peripheral nervous system, and a full set of endocrine glands to name much of the most important stuff. I looked on the web also and could find nothing on the internal anatomy of Ursus meritimus (Polar bear) in a short scan through some search engines. One spot that gave some interesting information was: http://tqjunior.thinkquest.org/3500/polarbear.htm, and you might check that one out.

If you go to the library and get an advanced anatomy book for humans and look for a cross section it will be very similar to what the bear would look like. I must say that cross-sectional anatomy is always the most advanced form of studying a system and so there may not be anything available for polar bears. You might try a veterinarian (DVM) or better yet, if you have a veterinary school near where you live they might have something in print that would be helpful.

Best wishes for hunting further,

Dr. Swanson