Skulls: Heads and Tales Exhibit
Take a closer look at this animal skull. What can this skulls tell you about the animal's diet? Their eyesight? Their behaviors? Their place in the food web?
This skull belonged to an american black bear.
Habitat: Found across a wide range of forests, mountains and swamps in 40+ US states and Canada
- Mostly grasses, roots, berries, and insects
- When necessary, also fish and other mammals
Average Life Span: 20 years
Size: 5-6 feet
Weight: 200- 600 pounds
When winter arrives, black bears spend the season dormant in their dens, feeding on body fat they have built up by eating ravenously all summer and fall. They make their dens in caves, burrows, brush piles, or other sheltered spots—sometimes even in tree holes high above the ground.
The Skulls exhibit at the Science Learning Center gives visitors a chance to see and touch real (and some replica) animal skulls, many from local animal species. Special thanks to Dr. Ted Stankowich of the Mammal Lab and Suellen Jacob in the Biological Sciences Department for lending these interesting specimens to the SLC.
3D images courtesy the California Academy of Sciences; physical specimens are part of the Academy's Ornithology & Mammalogy collections.
For accessibility assistance, please contact us via email at firstname.lastname@example.org. Please allow 24 to 48 hours to reply.