The Haida Gwaii black bear (''Ursus americanus carlottae''), also known as the Queen Charlotte Islands black bear, is a morphologically distinct subspecies of the American black bear. The most significant morphological differences are its large size, massive cranium and large

molars The molars or molar teeth are large, flat teeth at the back of the mouth. They are more developed in mammals. They are used primarily to grind food during chewing. The name ''molar'' derives from Latin, ''molaris dens'', meaning "millstone to ...

. This subspecies is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

to the

Haida Gwaii Haida Gwaii (; hai, X̱aaydag̱a Gwaay.yaay / , literally "Islands of the Haida people") is an archipelago located between off the northern Pacific coast of Canada. The islands are separated from the mainland to the east by the shallow Heca ...

(formerly the Queen Charlotte Islands) and is considered a " keystone species" because of the bears' transportation of salmon remains into the surrounding forests of the Haida Gwaii.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q948186 American black bears Haida Gwaii Carnivorans of North America Mammals of Canada Natural history of British Columbia Endemic fauna of British Columbia Endemic fauna of Canada