Common Male Fern vs Oso Polar

Dryopteris filix-mas compared with Ursus maritimus

Key Differences

Common Male Fern is Least Concern while Oso Polar is Vulnerable.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Common Male Fern	Oso Polar
Kingdom	Plantae (planta)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Tracheophyta	Chordata (cordados)
Class	Polypodiopsida (Polypodiopsida)	Mammalia (mamíferos)
Order	Polypodiales (Polypodiales)	Carnivora (carnívoros)
Family	Dryopteridaceae	Ursidae (Bears)
Genus	Dryopteris	Ursus (Bears)
Species	Dryopteris filix-mas	Ursus maritimus

Conservation Status

Common Male Fern

LC — Least Concern

Oso Polar

VU — Vulnerable

Population: ~26.0K

Trend: Decreasing ↓

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Common Male Fern	Oso Polar
Diet	—	Carnivore
Average Lifespan	—	25 years
Average Length	—	2.4 m
Average Weight	—	450.0 kg

Habitat & Geographic Range

Common Male Fern

Habitat

Typically found in moist, shaded forest floors and tropical canopies.

Range

Widely distributed across Europe (7 countries), North America (United States), Oceania and the Pacific (New Zealand), and South America (Chile).

Oso Polar

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including temperate broadleaf and mixed forests, temperate coniferous forests, and boreal forests and taiga, among 4 distinct biome types within the Palearctic biogeographic realm. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Found in Norway. Currently classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

Common Male Fern

<em>Dryopteris filix-mas</em>, the common male fern, is a robust, semi-evergreen fern in the family Dryopteridaceae, widely distributed across Europe, North America, Oceania, and South America. It is classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. This species typically grows in moist, shaded forest floors, hedgebanks, rocky slopes, and stream margins, preferring acidic to neutral soils in temperate environments. The common male fern produces large, pinnate fronds that can reach over one metre in length, arising from a central crown of scaly rhizomes. It is one of the most familiar ferns of the Northern Hemisphere and has been used medicinally for centuries, with extracts historically employed as an anthelmintic to treat tapeworm infections. The species reproduces via spores produced in kidney-shaped sori arranged in rows on the undersides of fertile fronds. Common male fern plays an important role in forest ecosystems, providing shelter and habitat structure for invertebrates and small vertebrates across its broad temperate range.

Oso Polar

El mayor carnivoro terrestre de la Tierra, el oso polar puede superar los 700 kg y se encuentra en el hielo marino del Artico, desde Canada hasta Rusia. Es un mamifero marino altamente especializado que depende del hielo marino para cazar focas anilladas y barbadas. Excelente nadador capaz de cubrir grandes distancias en agua abierta. Clasificado como Vulnerable, sus poblaciones soportan una presion severa por la rapida perdida de hielo marino artico debida al cambio climatico.