text:
Gluconeogenesis

Gluconeogenesis (GNG) is a metabolic pathway that results in the biosynthesis of glucose from certain non-carbohydrate carbon substrates. It is a ubiquitous process, present in plants, animals, fungi, bacteria, and other microorganisms. In vertebrates, gluconeogenesis occurs mainly in the liver and, to a lesser extent, in the cortex of the kidneys. It is one of two primary mechanisms – the other being degradation of glycogen (glycogenolysis) – used by humans and many other animals to maintain blood sugar levels, avoiding low levels (hypoglycemia). In ruminants, because dietary carbohydrates tend to be metabolized by rumen organisms, gluconeogenesis occurs regardless of fasting, low-carbohydrate diets, exercise, etc. In many other animals, the process occurs during periods of fasting, starvation, low-carbohydrate diets, or intense exercise.

In humans, substrates for gluconeogenesis may come from any non-carbohydrate sources that can be converted to pyruvate or intermediates of glycolysis (see figure). For the breakdown of proteins, these substrates include glucogenic amino acids (although not ketogenic amino acids); from breakdown of lipids (such as triglycerides), they include glycerol, odd-chain fatty acids (although not even-chain fatty acids, see below); and from other parts of metabolism that includes lactate from the Cori cycle. Under conditions of prolonged fasting, acetone derived from ketone bodies can also serve as a substrate, providing a pathway from fatty acids to glucose. Although most gluconeogenesis occurs in the liver, the relative contribution of gluconeogenesis by the kidney is increased in diabetes and prolonged fasting.

The gluconeogenesis pathway is highly endergonic until it is coupled to the hydrolysis of ATP or GTP, effectively making the process exergonic. For example, the pathway leading from pyruvate to glucose-6-phosphate requires 4 molecules of ATP and 2 molecules of GTP to proceed spontaneously. These ATPs are supplied from fatty acid catabolism via beta oxidation.

Precursors
In humans the main gluconeogenic precursors are lactate, glycerol (which is a part of the triglyceride molecule), alanine and glutamine. Altogether, they account for over 90% of the overall gluconeogenesis. Other glucogenic amino acids and all citric acid cycle intermediates (through conversion to oxaloacetate) can also function as substrates for gluconeogenesis. Generally, human consumption of gluconeogenic substrates in food does not result in increased gluconeogenesis.

In ruminants, propionate is the principal gluconeogenic substrate. In nonruminants, including human beings, propionate arises from the β-oxidation of odd-chain and branched-chain fatty acids, and is a (relatively minor) substrate for gluconeogenesis.

Lactate is transported back to the liver where it is converted into pyruvate by the Cori cycle using the enzyme lactate dehydrogenase. Pyruvate, the first designated substrate of the gluconeogenic pathway, can then be used to generate glucose. Transamination or deamination of amino acids facilitates entering of their carbon skeleton into the cycle directly (as pyruvate or oxaloacetate), or indirectly via the citric acid cycle. The contribution of Cori cycle lactate to overall glucose production increases with fasting duration. Specifically, after 12, 20, and 40 hours of fasting by human volunteers, the contribution of Cori cycle lactate to gluconeogenesis was 41%, 71%, and 92%, respectively.

Whether even-chain fatty acids can be converted into glucose in animals has been a longstanding question in biochemistry. Odd-chain fatty acids can be oxidized to yield acetyl-CoA and propionyl-CoA, the latter serving as a precursor to succinyl-CoA, which can be converted to oxaloacetate and enter into gluconeogenesis. In contrast, even-chain fatty acids are oxidized to yield only acetyl-CoA, whose entry into gluconeogenesis requires the presence of a glyoxylate cycle (also known as glyoxylate shunt) to produce four-carbon dicarboxylic acid precursors. The glyoxylate shunt comprises two enzymes, malate synthase and isocitrate lyase, and is present in fungi, plants, and bacteria. Despite some reports of glyoxylate shunt enzymatic activities detected in animal tissues, genes encoding both enzymatic functions have only been found in nematodes, in which they exist as a single bi-functional enzyme. Genes coding for malate synthase alone (but not isocitrate lyase) have been identified in other animals including arthropods, echinoderms, and even some vertebrates. Mammals found to possess the malate synthase gene include monotremes (platypus) and marsupials (opossum), but not placental mammals.

The existence of the glyoxylate cycle in humans has not been established, and it is widely held that fatty acids cannot be converted to glucose in humans directly. Carbon-14 has been shown to end up in glucose when it is supplied in fatty acids, but this can be expected from the incorporation of labelled atoms derived from acetyl-CoA into citric acid cycle intermediates which are interchangeable with those derived from other physiological sources, such as glucogenic amino acids. In the absence of other glucogenic sources, the 2-carbon acetyl-CoA derived from the oxidation of fatty acids cannot produce a net yield of glucose via the citric acid cycle, since an equivalent two carbon atoms are released as carbon dioxide during the cycle. During ketosis, however, acetyl-CoA from fatty acids yields ketone bodies, including acetone, and up to ~60% of acetone may be oxidized in the liver to the pyruvate precursors acetol and methylglyoxal. Thus ketone bodies derived from fatty acids could account for up to 11% of gluconeogenesis during starvation. Catabolism of fatty acids also produces energy in the form of ATP that is necessary for the gluconeogenesis pathway.

Location
In mammals, gluconeogenesis has been believed to be restricted to the liver, the kidney, the intestine, and muscle, but recent evidence indicates gluconeogenesis occurring in astrocytes of the brain. These organs use somewhat different gluconeogenic precursors. The liver preferentially uses lactate, glycerol, and glucogenic amino acids (especially alanine) while the kidney preferentially uses lactate, glutamine and glycerol. Lactate from the Cori cycle is quantitatively the largest source of substrate for gluconeogenesis, especially for the kidney. The liver uses both glycogenolysis and gluconeogenesis to produce glucose, whereas the kidney only uses gluconeogenesis. After a meal, the liver shifts to glycogen synthesis, whereas the kidney increases gluconeogenesis. The intestine uses mostly glutamine and glycerol.

Propionate is the principal substrate for gluconeogenesis in the ruminant liver, and the ruminant liver may make increased use of gluconeogenic amino acids (e.g., alanine) when glucose demand is increased. The capacity of liver cells to use lactate for gluconeogenesis declines from the preruminant stage to the ruminant stage in calves and lambs. In sheep kidney tissue, very high rates of gluconeogenesis from propionate have been observed.

In all species, the formation of oxaloacetate from pyruvate and TCA cycle intermediates is restricted to the mitochondrion, and the enzymes that convert Phosphoenolpyruvic acid (PEP) to glucose-6-phosphate are found in the cytosol. The location of the enzyme that links these two parts of gluconeogenesis by converting oxaloacetate to PEP – PEP carboxykinase (PEPCK) – is variable by species: it can be found entirely within the mitochondria, entirely within the cytosol, or dispersed evenly between the two, as it is in humans. Transport of PEP across the mitochondrial membrane is accomplished by dedicated transport proteins; however no such proteins exist for oxaloacetate. Therefore, in species that lack intra-mitochondrial PEPCK, oxaloacetate must be converted into malate or aspartate, exported from the mitochondrion, and converted back into oxaloacetate in order to allow gluconeogenesis to continue.

Pathway
Gluconeogenesis is a pathway consisting of a series of eleven enzyme-catalyzed reactions. The pathway will begin in either the liver or kidney, in the mitochondria or cytoplasm of those cells, this being dependent on the substrate being used. Many of the reactions are the reverse of steps found in glycolysis.
 * Gluconeogenesis begins in the mitochondria with the formation of oxaloacetate by the carboxylation of pyruvate. This reaction also requires one molecule of ATP, and is catalyzed by pyruvate carboxylase. This enzyme is stimulated by high levels of acetyl-CoA (produced in β-oxidation in the liver) and inhibited by high levels of ADP and glucose.
 * Oxaloacetate is reduced to malate using NADH, a step required for its transportation out of the mitochondria.
 * Malate is oxidized to oxaloacetate using NAD+ in the cytosol, where the remaining steps of gluconeogenesis take place.
 * Oxaloacetate is decarboxylated and then phosphorylated to form phosphoenolpyruvate using the enzyme PEPCK. A molecule of GTP is hydrolyzed to GDP during this reaction.
 * The next steps in the reaction are the same as reversed glycolysis. However, fructose 1,6-bisphosphatase converts fructose 1,6-bisphosphate to fructose 6-phosphate, using one water molecule and releasing one phosphate (in glycolysis, phosphofructokinase 1 converts F6P and ATP to F1,6BP and ADP).  This is also the rate-limiting step of gluconeogenesis.
 * Glucose-6-phosphate is formed from fructose 6-phosphate by phosphoglucoisomerase (the reverse of step 2 in glycolysis). Glucose-6-phosphate can be used in other metabolic pathways or dephosphorylated to free glucose. Whereas free glucose can easily diffuse in and out of the cell, the phosphorylated form (glucose-6-phosphate) is locked in the cell, a mechanism by which intracellular glucose levels are controlled by cells.
 * The final gluconeogenesis, the formation of glucose, occurs in the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum, where glucose-6-phosphate is hydrolyzed by glucose-6-phosphatase to produce glucose and release an inorganic phosphate. Like two steps prior, this step is not a simple reversal of glycolysis, in which hexokinase catalyzes the conversion of glucose and ATP into G6P and ADP. Glucose is shuttled into the cytoplasm by glucose transporters located in the endoplasmic reticulum's membrane.

Regulation
While most steps in gluconeogenesis are the reverse of those found in glycolysis, three regulated and strongly endergonic reactions are replaced with more kinetically favorable reactions. Hexokinase/glucokinase, phosphofructokinase, and pyruvate kinase enzymes of glycolysis are replaced with glucose-6-phosphatase, fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase, and PEP carboxykinase/pyruvate carboxylase. These enzymes are typically regulated by similar molecules, but with opposite results. For example, acetyl CoA and citrate activate gluconeogenesis enzymes (pyruvate carboxylase and fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase, respectively), while at the same time inhibiting the glycolytic enzyme pyruvate kinase. This system of reciprocal control allow glycolysis and gluconeogenesis to inhibit each other and prevents a futile cycle of synthesizing glucose to only break it down. Pyruvate kinase can be also bypassed by 86 pathways not related to gluconeogenesis, for the purpose of forming pyruvate and subsequently lactate; some of these pathways use carbon atoms originated from glucose.

The majority of the enzymes responsible for gluconeogenesis are found in the cytosol; the exceptions are mitochondrial pyruvate carboxylase and, in animals, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase. The latter exists as an isozyme located in both the mitochondrion and the cytosol. The rate of gluconeogenesis is ultimately controlled by the action of a key enzyme, fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase, which is also regulated through signal transduction by cAMP and its phosphorylation.

Global control of gluconeogenesis is mediated by glucagon (released when blood glucose is low); it triggers phosphorylation of enzymes and regulatory proteins by Protein Kinase A (a cyclic AMP regulated kinase) resulting in inhibition of glycolysis and stimulation of gluconeogenesis. Insulin counteracts glucagon by inhibiting gluconeogenesis. Type 2 diabetes is marked by excess glucagon and insulin resistance from the body. Insulin can no longer inhibit the gene expression of enzymes such as PEPCK which leads to increased levels of hyperglycemia in the body. The anti-diabetic drug metformin reduces blood glucose primarily through inhibition of gluconeogenesis, overcoming the failure of insulin to inhibit gluconeogenesis due to insulin resistance.

Studies have shown that the absence of hepatic glucose production has no major effect on the control of fasting plasma glucose concentration. Compensatory induction of gluconeogenesis occurs in the kidneys and intestine, driven by glucagon, glucocorticoids, and acidosis.

Insulin resistance
In the liver, the FOX protein FOXO6 normally promotes gluconeogenesis in the fasted state, but insulin blocks FOXO6 upon feeding. In a condition of insulin resistance, insulin fails to block FOXO6 resulting in continued gluconeogenesis even upon feeding, resulting in high blood glucose (hyperglycemia).

Insulin resistance is a common feature of metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes. For this reason gluconeogenesis is a target of therapy for type 2 diabetes, such as the antidiabetic drug metformin, which inhibits gluconeogenic glucose formation, and stimulates glucose uptake by cells.

Origins
Gluconeogenesis is considered one of the most ancient anabolic pathways and is likely to have been exhibited in the last universal common ancestor. Rafael F. Say and Georg Fuchs stated in 2010 that "all archaeal groups as well as the deeply branching bacterial lineages contain a bifunctional fructose 1,6-bisphosphate (FBP) aldolase/phosphatase with both FBP aldolase and FBP phosphatase activity. This enzyme is missing in most other Bacteria and in Eukaryota, and is heat-stabile even in mesophilic marine Crenarchaeota". It is proposed that fructose 1,6-bisphosphate aldolase/phosphatase was an ancestral gluconeogenic enzyme and had preceded glycolysis. But the chemical mechanisms between gluconeogenesis and glycolysis, whether it is anabolic or catabolic, are similar, suggesting they both originated at the same time. Fructose 1,6-bisphosphate is shown to be nonenzymatically synthesized continuously within a freezing solution. The synthesis is accelerated in the presence of amino acids such as glycine and lysine implying that the first anabolic enzymes were amino acids. The prebiotic reactions in gluconeogenesis can also proceed nonenzymatically at dehydration-desiccation cycles. Such chemistry could have occurred in hydrothermal environments, including temperature gradients and cycling of freezing and thawing. Mineral surfaces might have played a role in the phosphorylation of metabolic intermediates from gluconeogenesis and have to been shown to produce tetrose, hexose phosphates, and pentose from formaldehyde, glyceraldehyde, and glycolaldehyde.

title: Gluconeogenesis


text:
Talk:Tapir

Question
A tapir is a large, browing animal
 * Just one question... what is a browing animal? ;) --Dante Alighieri 11:21 18 Jun 2003 (UTC)
 * Probably browsing animal — herbivores that eat grass, like cows. This can usually be determined by what kind of teeth the animal has. --69.214.226.102 00:42, 8 May 2005 (UTC)
 * A browsing animal eats leaves branches off trees and shrubs.. Cows are grazers, deer are browsers. 66.108.117.254 18:32, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

Corcovado
I just expanded the Corcovado National Park stub in which I wrote that it is sizeable enough to support a sizeable population of tapirs. I think I remember hearing that this is one of the few remaining areas where such a large population still remains. Is this true? DirkvdM 19:07, 18 September 2005 (UTC)

Book of Mormon reference
I moved the following from the article to the discussion page. It does not reflect a neutral POV ("nothing more than apologetic conjecture"), and neither cites nor quotes FARMS articles so that the argument for/against can be weighed. Please quote and cite FARMS articles so this entry can be improved to Wikipedia standard.
 * The argument has been made by members of FARMS, that tapirs are the animal refered to as "horses" in the Book of Mormon. These individuals argue that a translation error lead to the tapir being misidentified as a horse.  This of course is nothing more than apologetic conjecture, with little or no evidence to support the claims that tapirs were used as work animals by ancient Americans. The biologist Jared Diamond has noted that only one large mammal, the llama, was domesticated in the ancient Americas. (See Guns, Germs, and Steel p. 162-167, and "Evolution, consequences and future of plant and animal domestication, Nature 418:700-707 [2002].)

--MrWhipple 16:30, 12 December 2005 (UTC)

 * How can there be a translation error in the Book of Mormon? Wasn't the whole point that the translation was given directly by God? DJ Clayworth 16:33, 12 December 2005 (UTC)

 * That's not exactly on-topic, but Mormons do not believe that the Book of Mormon is perfect in a word-for-word sense. The principles it teaches are from God, but the wording is limited by the human authors and the translator. See LDS scripture Doctrine and Covenants 1:24. I still want to see the FARMS articles the article mentions but does not cite. --MrWhipple 16:46, 12 December 2005 (UTC)

Here is the farms article

http://farms.byu.edu/display.php?id=129&table=transcripts

Similarly, members of Lehi's family may have applied loanwords to certain animal species that they encountered for the first time in the New World, such as the Mesoamerican tapir. While some species of tapir are rather small, the Mesoamerican variety (tapiris bairdii) can grow to be nearly six and a half feet in length and can weigh more than six hundred pounds. Many zoologists and anthropologists have compared the tapir's features to those of a horse or a donkey. "Whenever I saw a tapir," notes zoologist Hans Krieg, "it reminded me of an animal similar to a horse or a donkey. The movements as well as the shape of the animal, especially the high neck with the small brush mane, even the expression on the face, are much more like a horse's than a pig's [to which some have compared the smaller species]. When watching a tapir on the alert . . . as he picks himself up when recognizing danger, taking off in a gallop, almost nothing remains of the similarity to a pig."8

 * Thank you for the reference. As I read it, the anonymous FARMS author is not coming to any definite conclusions, but is using the tapir as a possible example of "'loanshift' or 'loan-extension'". He (?) gives examples of other cultures who have done this, and quotes non-Mormon authors who say the tapir has visual and behavior similarities to the horse, so this doesn't appear to be "nothing more than apologetic conjecture."
 * Also, please note the FARMS article explains that the Book of Mormon never says anyone actually rode a horse, but they do seem to have been used for draft purposes. The stupid Photoshopped image of a "Nephite riding a tapir" has no place in the Wikipedia article.
 * So, how can the FARMS article be incorporated into a NPOV entry in this Wikipedia entry? --MrWhipple 17:09, 12 December 2005 (UTC)

 * My proposed entry:
 * The Book of Mormon refers to horses being used for draft purposes in a handful of passages. The absence of horses from the pre-Columbian archeological record has caused some Mormons to speculate on which animal to which the text could be referring. A research report from the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies has hypothesized that the tapir may have been the animal referred to, and that it was called a horse by the early Book of Mormon people when they arrived from the Old World:
 * "[M]embers of Lehi's family may have applied loanwords to certain animal species that they encountered for the first time in the New World, such as the Mesoamerican tapir. While some species of tapir are rather small, the Mesoamerican variety (tapiris bairdii) can grow to be nearly six and a half feet in length and can weigh more than six hundred pounds. Many zoologists and anthropologists have compared the tapir's features to those of a horse or a donkey. 'Whenever I saw a tapir,' notes zoologist Hans Krieg, 'it reminded me of an animal similar to a horse or a donkey. The movements as well as the shape of the animal, especially the high neck with the small brush mane, even the expression on the face, are much more like a horse's than a pig's [to which some have compared the smaller species]. When watching a tapir on the alert...as he picks himself up when recognizing danger, taking off in a gallop, almost nothing remains of the similarity to a pig.'" ("Horses in the Book of Mormon," FARMS Research Report, n/a, n/d. )
 * --MrWhipple 17:26, 12 December 2005 (UTC)

I have no problem with that.

 * Done. Thanks for working this out. --MrWhipple 17:49, 12 December 2005 (UTC)

i dont think a book of mormon reference is needed at all in a page about an animal. 67.187.228.134 02:02, 13 December 2005 (UTC)

I see that this discussion hasn't been updated for quite awhile, so maybe this is a dead issue, but I thought that another point of view might be useful. From my perspective, FARMS's argument is mere apologetics. The tapir/horse connection is far from being accepted by mainstream Mormons. In fact, I would venture to guess that the average Mormon has never even heard of FARMS's proposal.

Furthermore, the proposal itself is fraught with problems. Therefore, I would suggest that if the FARMS reference is used in this article about tapirs, that a counter reference also be included so that those interested enough in the topic can get both sides of the story. An excellent article dealing with the subject of horses in the Book of Mormon is located here: http://zarahemlacitylimits.com/wiki/index.php/Horses, and within this article is a section dealing specifically with FARMS's tapir/horse connection (http://zarahemlacitylimits.com/wiki/index.php/Horses#The_Tapir.2FHorse). KevinM 22:56, 25 October 2006 (UTC)

I've tried to clean up this section by adopting an NPOV. The very inclusion of this section on the page is an allusion to the theory of horses/tapirs with a brief description of the theory, and not a defense/critique of apologetics. If that is to be the scope of the entry, then perhaps we should create a seperate Book of Mormon Horses/Tapir Debate page. For what it's worth. Wuapinmon 16:40, 2 November 2006 (UTC)

Hmm..This bit of the article is still not so hot. It goes too far into Mormon hypotheses, but without just quoting some Mormons. I thought something like MrWhipple's proposed entry above is more the style I would choose, although his is perhaps a bit long. Hey, is MrWhipple a Mormon? Hm, not important...

-Misha Vargas

216.254.12.114 17:22, 30 November 2006 (UTC)

This is kruft, pure and simple. The historicity of the BOM is an article of faith, and I know of no historian outside of the religion that would argure that Joseph Smith was not the author of the work. If the BOM says tapirs, then there is a reference with tapirs. If it says horses, it references horses. Because there is no original text, just what is alleged to be a translation, there is no room for argument about the subject. You cannot pose a solid argument without a document in the original language. The reference, which I think has a significant POV problem, should be removed from what is otherwise a good article.

--Dwcsite 22:51, 29 December 2006 (UTC)

Korean name
The article states that the Korean name is "niya", but the Korean syllagram given is 맥 which, as far as I'm aware, is "mait", not "niya". Comments? Tom e rtalk 11:09, 12 January 2006 (UTC)
 * I'm not an expert on mammals or mythology, but all the Korean references to real tapirs that I've read have used maek. (Hangul: 맥, Hanja: 貊.) --KJ 12:46, 19 January 2006 (UTC)
 * It seems it was due to vandalism. I've put maek back in, and reverted some other edits. --KJ 05:28, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

diet
do they eat ants as well? Chensiyuan 07:44, 23 December 2006 (UTC)

 * Not on purpose, at least! They're strictly vegetarian.  They do often get mistaken for anteaters, but their long noses are used to grab at vegetation rather than get at insects.  - Sasha Kopf 17:09, 23 December 2006 (UTC)

Cultural References Section
I hope I didn't step on anyone's toes, but I took out some of the cultural references listed in the article. There have been enough now it didn't seem feasible to keep adding brief mentions and one-liners alluding to tapirs, so I tried to pare it down to instances where tapirs are featured more prominently. However, if anyone thinks that was a mistake or if I accidentally took out something that really belongs there, please go ahead and fix it with my apologies. - Sasha Kopf 00:54, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

I'm not sure the "Grand Theft Auto" reference here is correct. I am playing the game now, and it's not easily heard to be "tapia." There's a possibility it may be correctly pronounced (the character pronouncing it is speaking with either a Cuban or Puerto Rican accent) and I think this entry should be deleted, since it's not definitively mispronounced. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.200.185.108 (talk) 19:09, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

"Sexy" pronunciation?
Why is "sexy" used for the pronunciation guide? I didn't change it because I couldn't tell if it's actually correct, but (1) I don't think it is correct and (2) if it is, there has to be a better word.

 * That was just vandalism. It's been reverted back now.  In the future, if you think something like that is incorrect, a good way to verify is to check the history of the page to see if the questionable assertion is a recent change that's a big departure from previous versions.  If so, it's likely to be vandalism.  - Sasha Kopf 02:51, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

Range
The article does not seem to talk about the range of the various tapir species.

References and a Verifiability Problem
Does anyone have any actual references to tapirs eating dreams in Chinese, Korean, or Japanese folklore? By references, I mean to **scholarly** work, and not a reference to Rumiko Takahashi's manga "Lum Urusei*Yatsura" where tapirs eat dreams. There are some other examples from manga, but they're not references either. I'd like to see a real scholarly reference to this, not something quoting somebody who (to complete the circle) is quoting Wiki. And for an example of *that*, see  where Japanese "yumekui" is translated as "dream-catcher," "dream-eater," and a footnote says that means a tapir and cites this Wiki article.

In brief, you've got a VERIFIABILITY problem here.

Timothy Perper 18:32, 5 September 2007 (UTC)
 * Should we refer to Baku (spirit)?--Mr Fink 18:36, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

 * You beat me to it, Mr. Fink. We can, but a warning is needed.

 * I was just looking at the Baku article, and it's not much help at all. The one reference in English, to a paper by Nakagawa, says only (in footnote 39, if you're interested) that baku are "believed to devour dreams." There isn't any clear basis to identify tapirs with baku from Nakagawa's paper, and in fact the images of baku given in both the Wiki article and described by Nakagawa do not resemble living tapirs. Nor does Nakgawa him/herself cite anyone -- folklorists, ethnographers, and so on -- to support the claim that baku *are* in fact believed to devour nightmares.

 * What we DO have is a fair amount of manga and anime (like "Lum Urusei*Yatsura") that have tapirs (recognizable ones, too) eating nightmares -- very charming, indeed. But it isn't scholarly evidence that Japanese folklore existed in which tapirs -- the real ones, not the chimeras drawn by artists like Hokusai -- had anything to do with dreams.

 * My guess -- it's only that! -- is that various Japanese writers and artists, like Takahashi, decided that if the Japanese word (kanji or in kana) for "baku" was the same as the Chinese character for "tapir," she'd draw her dream-devouring creature as a recognizable tapir and not as a modernization of Hokusai's chimerical beast.

 * So we're still in limbo, and it's not that trivial either, since by now lots of people out there think they know that the Japanese believe that tapirs eat dreams. So we seem to have neo-folklore, a possibly **brand-new** piece of manga/anime based folklore. I've been collectiing examples of this "tapirs eat dreams" idea, and my favorite so far is a really quite delightful web game , the only one, Kirsten adds, that features tapirs. But it isn't evidence that the Japanese, or anyone else, believe that tapirs, real ones as re-imagined in folklore, actually eat dreams. Chimeras with a similar name, yes, but tapirs -- so far, no evidence I can find.
 * Timothy Perper 19:42, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

 * You seem to have overlooked the text in the Nakagawa paper to which the footnote was appended. Here's a transcription of it for you (note that this is a translation of an old Japanese text which introduced various weird creatures from China, and that "mo" is simply the Chinese reading of the same character which the Japanese pronounce "baku", and that brackets are Nakagawa's):
 * 30.Mo
 * In the mountains of the south, there lives a beast. It has an elephant's trunk, the eyes of a rhinoceros, an ox's tail, and a tiger's paws. Its body is yellow and black, and it is called the Mo [tapir]. By sleeping on its pelt one can ward off pestilence. A man should make a sketch of the Mo in order to be protected from evil. It eats copper and iron and nothing else.

 * While I guess we can't be certain that the character 貘 always referred to the animal we call a "tapir" today, that certainly seems to be its current usage in Chinese. Tapirs are similarly called baku in Japan. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kotengu (talk • contribs) 20:57, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

 * Thanks for your quote. I hadn't overlooked it; I just hadn't quoted it. The kanji in question, which is given on Breen's WWWJDIC website in two forms, one apparently a variant of the other, is the same as the Chinese ideogram. Breen's entry gives two pronunciations (baku and mo), so it seems that both exist in modern Japanese.

 * It's clear, however, from the original Nara ehon cited by Nakagawa, that whatever this beast was, it was fanciful and it doesn't look like a (real) tapir at all (see, for example, the drawing on ). Thus, the question arises of where the visual identification comes from between (biological) tapirs and dream-eating baku. The answer requires someone who knows a *great* deal more than I do about the history of Japanese zoological science, because, prior to the 1850s, we can assume that Japanese naturalists did not know much at all about the non-Japanese (that is, Malaysian) tapir. It is *possible* that a Dutch ship entering Deshima in 1790 (say) had a real Malayan tapir on board, but without good documentary evidence of such a thing, I think we can safely assume that the Malaysian tapir was unknown to Japan prior to 1854 and perhaps years later. And from that it follows that the "baku" in the sense of the Japanese folkloric creature derived from Chinese and is related visually to (Malaysian) tapirs only very indirectly.

 * But certainly by the 1980-1990s, when Takahashi Rumiko was working on "Lum*Urusei Yatsura," Malaysian and other tapirs would have been known, perhaps well known, in Japan. It is also clear from her drawings that the tapirs she envisioned are based solidly on the Malaysian or related animal. Thus, a transformation seems to have occurred between the pre-1854 era and the time Takahashi was working more than a century later, which apparently shifted the visual sense from the Chinese chimerical beast to the zoologically well-known tapir.

 * Let me state the idea in another way. If one *does* assert that biologically-identifiable tapirs are one and the same as the folkloric baku, one needs much better evidence -- a matter of VERIFIABILITY -- than what is in the article. The pictures and descriptions we DO have of the baku **prior** to 1854 (the Nara ehon cited by Nakagawa, the drawing referenced above) are **certainly** not biological tapirs. Therefore the article needs to downplay and modify its claim that in Japanese folklore, creatures looking like the modern tapir ate dreams.

 * And why is it important? Because I have by now encountered a number of websites that cite this Wiki article to prove that the Japanese people believe that (biological) tapirs eat dreams. I think a great deal of care is needed in making that assertion and that, at the moment, it lacks the all-important evidentiary base. Yes, it's a charming idea that creatures looking like Malaysian tapirs ate dreams, and the notion has become quite popular. But we need evidence that such ideas, no matter how charming, pre-date modern manga and anime.

 * Yes, it may be that in modern Mandarin Chinese "mo" refers to Malayasian and other tapirs. But it's not obvious what connection exists with Japanese visual depictions of baku first as chimeras and later as (zoological) tapirs.

 * Timothy Perper 22:45, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

VERIFIABILITY issues: tapirs vs. elephants
Here is a reference to an image from 1791 that shows a “dream-eating” Japanese supernatural creature that has an elephant’s trunk and tusks. It is NOT a zoological tapir.

Kern, Adam L. 2007 Manga from the Floating World: Comicbook culture and the kibyoshi of Edo Japan. Cambridge: Harvard University Asian Center. page 236, figure 4.26.

It has tusks, a long trunk, a semi-human face, horns, and a body drawn in swirls and whorls rather like a dragon. Kern calls this creature a “baku.” I’d download the image except that that really would be copyright violation.

By contrast, *modern* dream-eating creatures in manga and anime are unmistakably zoological tapirs. Here’s a reference to Takahashi Rumiko’s dream-eating tapir (the original dates from the early 1980s):

Takahashi Rumiko 1995 Waking to a nightmare. In: The Return of Lum: Urusei Yatsura. San Francisco: Viz. pages 141-156.

So there you have it. The Edo period dream-eater was drawn in at least some contemporary Japanese sources with an elephant’s head. Modern Japanese dream-eaters are zoological tapirs.

Timothy Perper 14:31, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

I love these little guys!
These guys are so cool. I love the tapir. Why is this page not have more on it? There are all sorts of tapir that you miss off! Why not a big heap of all the documented tapir you can find anywhere. I wish we could have more. Also possibly a link to a site where I can buy or hire a tapir for myself to keep? 217.36.215.32 15:39, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

 * Check out Sasha Kopf's Wikipedia user page. You can find the link at the very top of the tapir talk page. Her website has more material on tapirs. Timothy Perper 23:19, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

Too many toes!
In roughly the center of the article are two pictures of tapir feet, side by side with the caption; '"The undersides of the front (left, with four toes) and back (right, with three toes) feet of a Malayan tapir at rest". Here's the problem: Unless my eyes deceive me, BOTH photos display a four toed foot! Am I mistaken, or should this picture & caption be scrapped? Rearden Metal 03:19, 27 September 2007 (UTC)

 * Hi Rearden Metal - I think your eyes deceive you. (As the person who took the pictures and labeled them, I can attest to the right number of toes.)  I wonder if maybe the middle toe on the back feet is causing a problem?  It's sort of a funny shape, and I can see how it would look like a fourth toe.  However, if you think the pictures will cause confusion, perhaps one image or both should be removed.  - Sasha Kopf 04:07, 27 September 2007 (UTC)

Breeding patterns
The following information was recently added by CassieCamisado on tapir breeding patterns: Tapirs mating is non seasonal and they go into Oestrus every two to three months. Oestrus usually lasts four to five days and they copulate several times during this to ensure pregnancy. They can reproduce both in and out of water. For now, I have remove the info and reverted back to the previous text because
 * 1) the information was unsourced
 * 2) the information about going into oestrus every 2-3 months is already in the article, in the "Lifecycle" section
 * 3) "reproduce both in and out of water" is a little vague - will they copulate in and out of water, or give birth?

However, if the info gets sourced and those little problems taken care of, it would be great to have it in the article. - Sasha Kopf (talk) 11:50, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

 * Update: I looked up the information added by CassieCamisado, and I got conflicting answers, as follows:

 * Are mating habits seasonal?
 * Fact Sheet from Young People's Trust for the Environment says 'no
 * ARKive implies yes, Animal Diversity Web implies yes

 * Does oestrus occur every 2-3 months?
 * BBC says yes
 * Tapir Specialist Group's field manual says no, it's generally 28-32 days but depends on the species
 * Animal Diversity Web says 50-80 days

 * Does oestrus last 4-5 days?
 * I couldn't find a source that gave these numbers...
 * Tapir Specialist Group's field manual says no, it's generally 1-4 days but depends on the species

 * However, I did reference two of the other bits of info. So I'm referencing those facts, and taking out the unverified parts for now.  - Sasha Kopf (talk) 00:13, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

they are ugly and look weaird —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.237.223.107 (talk) 20:05, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

Dumb Question
Are tapirs kosher animals? 65.95.59.86 (talk) 15:42, 10 March 2008 (UTC)
 * No, they are not, as tapirs are not cloven-hoofed, and do not produce or chew cud (these being the requirements for a mammal to be kosher).--Mr Fink (talk) 15:55, 10 March 2008 (UTC)

New Species??
Dutch naturalist Marc van Roosmalen claims to have discovered a new species of tapir. Is this discovery accepted by the scientific community??

Here's the link: http://www.marcvanroosmalen.org/dwarftapir.htm 189.70.65.130 (talk) 01:41, 6 June 2008 (UTC)
 * The fast answer is no, and it is bordering WP:Fringe. It has not received widespread recognition by the scientific community, and falls within the same category as the Dwarf Manatee (which see) described by the same author, van Roosmalen. 212.10.74.234 (talk) 03:57, 6 April 2009 (UTC)

phyloGENETICS
"...G-banded preparations have revealed that Malayan, Baird’s and Brazilian Tapirs have identical X chromosomes, while Mountain Tapirs are separated by a heterochromatic addition/deletion..." What is the conclusion of that? Malayan or Mountain tapirs are phylogeneticaly closer to the other two species? The heterochromatic addition/deletion could be an apomorphy of the mountain tapir that happened before or after the geographic isolation of the asian from the american species?--92.118.191.48 (talk) 10:32, 23 November 2008 (UTC)

Extinct taxa
I ahve removed the translated binomials from the taxonomy section. With only a few noted exceptions, extinct taxa from before the 1600s do not actually have a common name and should be referred to by the scientific name. --Kevmin (talk) 06:03, 12 February 2009 (UTC)

Danta
Need a source that they are also known as danta? Google it! --Japoniano (talk) 21:27, 3 July 2009 (UTC)
 * http://www.tapirs.org/tapirs/bairds.html Zeimusu | Talk page 15:18, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

Yes, indeed, they are know by that name and, thank you for the above link!. 75.48.8.163 (talk) 04:54, 6 August 2011 (UTC)

 * The citation provided does not indicate that this is an English name, implying that it is a Spanish one, nor does it indicate that the name applies to tapirs in general, implying that it refers specifically to Baird's tapir. So I'm afraid that it is, at the moment, inadequate to support the claim being made. Anaxial (talk) 11:43, 6 August 2011 (UTC)

 * Zeimusu's source says "Other names: Tapir, danta (Spanish), mountain cow (Belize), macho del monte (Colombia & Costa Rica)." Google Translate says "danta" simply means "tapir" in Spanish. As this is the English wikipedia, I'm not so sure how relevant these "other names" are to the article. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 11:58, 6 August 2011 (UTC)

Cultural reference
The Pokemon Drowzee is a tapir, it's Pokedex entry also mentions it being related to Baku. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 156.34.177.156 (talk) 14:39, 4 July 2009 (UTC)

hybrid dating
The article says it takes at least three years to reach sexual maturity, so there is a dating problem with the sentence:

Hybrid tapirs from the Baird's Tapir and the Brazilian Tapir were bred at the San Francisco Zoo around 1969 and produced a second generation around 1970.

The reference does not include the 1969 date. Wakablogger2 (talk) 19:26, 11 May 2010 (UTC)

Pictures
I think a picture of a tapir skull would be more appropriate than a rough sketch of one. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Burriloom (talk • contribs) 02:12, 21 March 2013 (UTC)

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Cladogram?
If you are experienced with cladograms, could you add the Malayan tapir to the "Evolution" section of this article? Ddum5347 (talk) 00:01, 10 March 2021 (UTC)
 * Nvm, I figured it out. thanks for ignoring me Ddum5347 (talk) 18:04, 10 March 2021 (UTC)

Can tapir walk on bottom of ponds and rivers?
??? 37.39.221.61 (talk) 19:59, 1 September 2023 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 9 September 2023
Horses, Tapirs & Rhinoceroses

Although superficially these animals might not seem related, they all belong to the order Perissodactyla, or odd-toed ungulates. The three families included (Equidae, Rhinocerotidae, and Tapiridae) have a total of 17 species between them, including the horse, donkey, ass, zebra, tapir, and rhinoceros. They are a beautiful example of related animals evolving to adapt to different lifestyles, this case animals respectively living in open areas such as grasslands and steppes (horses), dry savannas, and in Asia, wet marsh or forest areas (rhinos), and mainly tropical rainforests (tapirs).

The British zoologist Richard Owen recognised that all these animals were closely related and coined the name for this order. Their most easily recognisable shared trait is the odd number of toes, but another remarkable shared trait is that they are all hindgut fermenters. They store digested food that has left the stomach in an enlarged part of the digestive tract called the cecum (in humans this is the part at the beginning of the large intestine to which the appendix is connected) where it is digested by bacteria.

Oftapirs (talk) 20:38, 9 September 2023 (UTC)

 * Sorry, but all of this is already in the article, and does not need to be added, with the exception of the information about Richard Owen, which belongs at Perissodactyla. Anaxial (talk) 21:04, 9 September 2023 (UTC)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Talk:Tapir


text:
Talk:List of fictional bears

Comments from 2003-2006
I know panda's are soetimes refered to as panda bears. But are they Bear Bears? I thought they were known as panda bears as they are descedents of bears. Eg Dogs come from Wolfs. Any panda experts care to add more???

 * Check Giant Panda. They're listed in the Family Ursidae. --Dante Alighieri 11:43 18 Jun 2003 (UTC)

ok thankyou. - fonzy

Blinky Bill doesn't strictly count as a bear because he's a koala, but since there's no list of fictional koalas and everyone likes koalas I've just added a little note to the effect... Lee M 03:10, 20 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * This isn't sufficient justification. There are now plenty of fictional koalas. I removed it. BigBlueFish (talk) 20:04, 18 February 2008 (UTC)

Um, "Brother Bear" is mentioned twice, once mentioning all the bear characters, once the main character. They call him "Brother Bear" there, but that's not really his name or title, is it? His name is Kenai, and "Brother Bear" is just the title of the movie. So I'm not sure that description fits..--Mithcoriel 21:10, 29 August 2006 (UTC)

I'm not sure that Mr Woppit belongs in a list of fictional bears, since he really exists Littlst 14:17, 24 September 2006 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Yogi-portrait.jpg
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Fair use rationale for Image:Yogi-portrait.jpg
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Why don't we just call it "notable fictional bears"
I think that there's a policy about avoiding lists.75.73.32.46 (talk) 13:38, 13 August 2009 (UTC)

Pokemon bears
Snorlax is still not even remotely a bear. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.61.105.145 (talk) 21:04, 3 September 2009 (UTC) Besides, it doesn't even have all the identifying features of a bear. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.148.72.69 (talk) 09:37, 28 January 2011 (UTC)

Major Cleanup
This article needs some major trimming and organization. I'm talking primarily about the items listed as /unnamed/, the non-notable examples (like Unnamed - teddy bear belonging to Radar O'Reilly, a character on "M*A*S*H") I'd also like to merge the List of fictional Pandas into this article but only if there is consensus to do this. I'm putting this here to let any editors who are frequently on this article know before hand and not get into an edit war. If there are any objections, please message here. Thanks! Ncboy2010 (talk) 18:09, 30 January 2012 (UTC)

Boog from the Open Season franchise of films is missing
Boog is (one of) the main character(s) in the Open Season films. The third? film also has him encounter a circus bear, and they switch places. There is a female love interest as well. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Season_%28film_series%29 68.12.195.143 (talk) 17:02, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

No pedobear??
what gives? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2604:2000:80A0:8700:25A0:23E7:161:F9A3 (talk) 01:12, 16 September 2014 (UTC)

Description of "Mord" for Mord from "Borne" was rolled back as "not constructive"
_"A giant killer bear with ability to levitate who terrorizes the unnamed City. Once human, he was created by the Company as enforcer. Since the Company's downfall, he has only become fiercer."_

That's the exact description of Mord the Bear from Jeff Vandermeer's "Borne" but I can't be arsed to get into a wikiwar with people who haven't even read the book. Feel free to reuse.

Remove all animated bears from Film And Television Section and move them to Animated Bears Section?
I think all animated bears from the Film and Television section should be removed and added to the Animation section. There are already a lot of film and television bears in the Animated section that I feel it should be moved, or vice versa. Name13013 (talk) 16:12, 21 May 2016 (UTC)

Add The Rest Of The Collage Bear Mascots
Added up to letter k of mascots listed https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_college_mascots_in_the_United_States Can someone add the rest please? Name13013 (talk) 02:18, 15 November 2016 (UTC)

Done Name13013 (talk) 21:19, 3 January 2017 (UTC)
 * If we're going to have a subsection of bear mascots, why isn't it labelled as "mascots"? I mean, other editors would be less likely to remove what they assume is a big grab-bag of uncited material whose tenuous relationship to each other and the page topic is barely explained if it was labelled "mascots" and not as "other"--Mr Fink (talk) 02:13, 8 March 2017 (UTC)
 * I fixed it and I hope it is OK now. Name13013 (talk) 01:47, 18 March 2017 (UTC)

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Kubrick
Should we add the disguised exhibitionist from The Shining ? --90.0.146.108 (talk) 12:01, 27 April 2021 (UTC)

Incorrect Link
The link to the author of Padistan Bear (under literature) is incorrect, it links to former Virginia senator John Warner, not the British author who has the same name. Viva Bee (talk) 00:14, 22 August 2021 (UTC)

Rentro - best character in Muppets from Space
Rentro is a brown-nosing ursine agent for C.O.V.N.E.T. in the "Muppets from Space" movie. He's the deferential assistant to K. Edgar Singer, but ultimately sympathizes with the captured Gonzo's plight. 69.46.250.138 (talk) 01:01, 26 March 2023 (UTC)

title: Talk:List of fictional bears


text:
George Beurling

George Frederick "Buzz" Beurling, (6 December 1921 – 20 May 1948) was the most successful Canadian fighter pilot and flying ace of the Second World War.

Beurling was recognised as "Canada's most famous hero of the Second World War", as "The Falcon of Malta" and the "Knight of Malta", having been credited with shooting down 27 Axis aircraft in just 14 days over the besieged Mediterranean island. Before the war ended his official total climbed to either 31 or 31$1⁄3$.

Beurling's wartime service was terminated prior to war's end, for repeated stunting and his lack of teamwork. Having found a way to potentially continue combat flying in the postwar era, Beurling was killed in a crash while attempting to deliver an aircraft to Israel.

Early life
George Beurling was born in 1921 in Verdun (now part of Montreal), Quebec into a religious family and was the third of five children in the family. His father, Frederick Gustav Beurling, was Swedish and a commercial artist working for the Claude Neon Company. His mother, Hetty Florence Gibbs, is of English descent and was born in the Montreal suburb of Pointe-Saint-Charles.

George Beurling began to develop an interest in flying at the age of 6 when his father built him a model aircraft. His parents wanted him to study in McGill University and become a successful commercial artist like his father. At the age of 15, George quit school and took up a job to increase his income. One year later, he had logged 150 flying hours and passed all examinations for a commercial pilot licence.

Wanting to increase his flying experience, he set out for China, hoping to join the Chinese Nationalist Air Force by crossing the US border. He was intending to head to San Francisco and work for some while in China and later sign up for the job. Eventually, he was arrested as an immigrant at the border and was repatriated back home. He first took the controls of an aircraft in 1933, and was flying solo by 1938. He left school to work for an air freight company in Gravenhurst, Ontario, and soon gained a commercial licence. Beurling joined the Royal Air Force (RAF) in September 1940.

Second World War
With the outbreak of war, Beurling tried to join the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), but his lack of academic qualifications led to his rejection. He then tried to join the Finnish Air Force (which was fighting the Soviets in the Winter War), but could not get his parents' permission. Instead, Beurling sailed across the Atlantic on a convoy, landing in Glasgow, intending to enlist in the RAF. Unfortunately, he had forgotten his birth certificate and had to return to Canada. In September 1940, after he had survived the return trip, the RAF accepted him as a pilot.

Joining the RAF
Having survived one or two aerial misdemeanours, Beurling reached No. 7 Operational Training Unit, at RAF Hawarden, in September 1941. Beurling demonstrated considerable skill in training. In Hawarden, he came under the influence of the great Ginger Lacey, whose score at the time stood at 27. Lacey later commented about Beurling: "There are not two ways about it, he was a wonderful pilot and an even better shot."

These two factors, coupled with exceptional eyesight, were the keys to Beurling's later success. But they did not come without effort. At Hawarden, he immersed himself in gunnery, estimation of range, deflection, bullet trail and bullet drop, until his application of these became automatic. For him, flying and shooting became one single action.

In the middle of December, he was posted as a Sergeant Pilot to 403 Squadron, a RCAF "Article XV squadron", which had just moved to North Weald, Essex. He flew his first (uneventful) combat mission, in a Supermarine Spitfire, on Christmas Day 1941. Beurling remained with 403 for nearly four months, escorting bombers and flying fighter sweeps across the English Channel. Beurling did not get off an effective shot during his time with 403, despite being in formations "jumped" by German fighters.

In early 1942, a change of policy by the RCAF required its squadrons to be staffed by RCAF personnel. Because Beurling had remained technically a member of the RAF, he was posted to 41 Squadron RAF in Sussex.

Two days later, as usual for a newcomer, he was assigned again to the number four position. He spotted a lone Focke-Wulf Fw 190, and broke from the flight to pursue it. He claimed the German fighter as probably destroyed 2-3 mi off Cap Gris Nez at approximately 12:00. On this occasion, Beurling was reprimanded for attacking a target without permission, and became unpopular with his superiors and fellow pilots. As Red 4, finding himself alone in the sky, he made his way back across the Channel, joining up with Sgt Appleton mid-way. Counting all claims together, after Group revision, 3-1-2 Fw 190s were credited to the RAF FC pilots.

When another pilot was posted overseas, Beurling offered to take his place. Ordered to board a ship, he did not know his destination until the vessel reached Gibraltar. He was destined for No. 249 Squadron RAF, at Malta.

Malta (1942)
Fighter pilots played a critical role in the defence of Malta during its siege. Beurling landed on the island on 9 June, after having flown off the deck of HMS Eagle (1918) aboard his Spitfire, during Operation Salient. His nickname on Malta was "Screwball", an expletive he had a habit of using.

Beurling had his baptism of fire in the mid-morning of 12 June when, flying a Spitfire, with three other pilots from 249, the formation intercepted eight Bf 109s. Beurling claimed to have blown the tail off a Bf 109, but nobody saw it hit the ground, so he was credited with a "damaged". After that, Beurling claimed a series of kills that had no equal. On 6 July 1942, with other pilots from 249, he attacked a formation of three Cant Z1007bis, 14 Reggiane Re.2001s and more than two dozen Macchi C.202s. He almost certainly shot down Sergente Francesco Pecchiari from 352a Squadriglia. Then he claimed another Macchi that crashed near Zejtun, likely the Reggiane of Sottotenente Romano Pagliani, 152a Squadriglia. During this fight, the Italians claimed two Spitfires, one by Furio Niclot Doglio (whom Beurling killed three weeks later). RAF suffered no losses, but Beurling's aircraft was badly shot up. However he made a third claim that day, a Messerschmitt, hit from a distance of 800 yards.

On 10 July, Beurling's Malta tally rose to five in just four days, making him an ace. That day, it seems likely that he shot down the C.202 of Sergente Maggiore Francesco Visentini, from 378a Squadriglia.

On 12 July, Beurling, piloting a Spitfire and searching for Pilot Officer Berkeley-Hill, who was missing, spotted, at a lower altitude, Tenente Colonnello Aldo Quarantotti and Tenente Carlo Seganti flying Reggiane Re.2001s, who in turn were looking for Lieutenant Francesco Vichi, who had disappeared while a Spitfire was chasing him. Beurling, with Flying Officer Erik Hetherington, dived on the tail of the second of the two Reggianes and downed Seganti. Then Beurling attacked the other Reggiane. He closed up to 100 ft and just when Quarantotti spotted him, Beurling delivered a short burst that decapitated the Italian commander. This aircraft also fell into the sea. Two days later it was the Reggianes who attacked him and badly shot up his Spitfire. Beurling's aircraft was "riddled by better than 20 bullets through the fuselage and wings". "An explosive bullet nicked my right heel", he recalled.

On 22 July, Beurling lost his best friend in Malta, French-Canadian Pilot Jean Paradis. The following day, eight 249 Spitfires were scrambled. Beurling claimed to have badly damaged a bomber and, after a long dogfight with a Reggiane, to have "blown his left wing off". The 151a Squadriglia, in fact, lost Sergente Maggiore Bruno Di Pauli. The Macchi 202 pilot reported to have parachuted down after an AA shell had damaged his aircraft and realizing that he was followed by six Spitfires that, at the moment, had still not fired.

27 July was Beurling's "biggest day on Malta". That day, he shot down Sergente Faliero Gelli, and immediately afterwards, Captain Furio Niclot Doglio, Regia Aeronautica's best fighter ace, both flying Macchi MC. 202s. Doglio, who was diving to counter attack the head-on Spitfires of 126 Squadron and had misunderstood the warning waggling of wings of his wingman, Maresciallo Ennio Tarantola (who had seen the oncoming 249 Squadron fighters from left, high above), was Beurling's 14th "kill".

On the same day, Beurling also claimed two Bf 109s, one of which was piloted by the ace Leutnant Karl-Heinz Preu of JG 53 although other sources attribute this to flak. On 24 July 1942, Beurling was awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal, the citation read:

"Sergeant Beurling has displayed great skill and courage in the face of the enemy. One day in July 1942, he engaged a number of enemy fighters which were escorting a formation of Junkers 88s and destroyed one fighter. Later during the same day he engaged 10 enemy fighters and shot two of them down into the sea, bringing his total victories to eight."

On 30 July, he was commissioned as a pilot officer, and on 4 September won a bar to his DFM, largely for his exploits on 27 July. The citation read:

"Since being awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal in July 1942, Sergeant Beurling has destroyed a further 9 enemy aircraft, bringing his victories to 17. One of his exploits was the destruction of 4 enemy fighters in one day; during these brief combats he also damaged a further 2 hostile aircraft. His courage and determination are a source of inspiration to all."

The enervation of daily combat combined with the effects of the poor rations and dysentery were telling. Beurling was bedridden for much of August and September, gaining only 1½ victories in August. On 8 August, while he was shooting at a Bf 109, he was jumped by two more. He hit one and it went straight into the sea: this was confirmed by his section leader. But his aircraft was then hit in the engine and he belly-landed in a stone-walled field. "I climbed out", he recalled, "unhurt except for a superficial cut in one arm." Beurling was shot down either by Herbert Rollwage or Siegfried Freytag and Fw Pohl of I./Jagdgeschwader 77 (JG 77—77th Fighter Wing), who all claimed a Spitfire shot down.

Beurling hitched back to Ta' Qali Field. On 25 September, he had another successful day, claiming to have downed three German fighters, but on this occasion his victories seem to be "overclaimed". That day, flying with 11 other Spitfires, he met a dozen Bf 109s 30 miles northeast of Zonqor Point. He claimed to have "disintegrated" a first Bf 109, to have damaged a second and set a third on fire, that "enveloped in flames, dived vertically striking the sea", the pilot bailing out. Two of these victims were two German fighters that came back to base, even if badly damaged and the third could be the one piloted by Kurt Gorbing, who made a forced-landing and died shortly afterwards.

On 10 October, Beurling was testing his newly serviced Spitfire when he was vectored to intercept two Bf 109s, flying line abreast at 1,000 ft over Filfla. He reported to have hit "the starboard fellow" in the engine: "He pancaked right smack down on his belly and flipped over onto his back." The second BF 109 tried to fly away but he hit the fuel tank: "The ship blow up, complete with pilot." Those kills brought Beurling's Malta tally to 21, plus another shared with two others. But there is no record of a Messerschmitt crashing on the island on 10 October 1942, nor any German losses. On the morning of 13 October, 3 mi north of St Paul’s Bay, Beurling, attacked a formation of Junkers Ju 88s, escorted by 30 Bf 109s. He claimed to have at first hit a bomber, then an oncoming Bf 109 that burst into flames. Seconds later, he shot at a second Bf 109, without observing strikes, "but pilot bailed out". On 16 October he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the citation read:

"Pilot Officer George Frederick BEURLING, D.F.M. (128707) Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, No. 249 Squadron. Since being awarded a Bar to the Distinguished Flying Medal, this officer has shot down a further 3 hostile aircraft, bringing his total victories to 20. One day in September 1942, he and another pilot engaged 4 enemy fighters. In the ensuing combat, Pilot Officer Beurling destroyed 2 of them. As a relentless fighter, whose determination and will to win has won the admiration of his colleagues, this officer has set an example in keeping with the highest traditions of the Royal Air Force."

Beurling was a committed Christian and non-smoker. He dedicated himself totally to the art of aerial combat. Tending to be a loner on the ground and in the air, Beurling angered his commanders with his disdain for teamwork. His relentless concentration on aerial fighting led Beurling to develop a marked skill at deflection shooting and together with his situational awareness, he was soon recognised as a deadly fighter pilot. Like many successful Spitfire pilots, Beurling developed the habit of only engaging enemy aircraft at 250 yd or less – a range at which many other pilots would be breaking away. Beurling owed his spectacular success to remarkably good eyesight and the ability to "toss his Spitfire" into violent combat manoeuvres. If jumped from behind, he would pull back on the stick of his Mk Vc Spitfire so hard that the aircraft would enter a violent stall, flick over and spin. This was a hard, sudden and very dangerous act for the enemy fighter on his tail to follow. Beurling would also ram both ailerons and rudder into a sudden and violent turn, causing his Spitfire to flip over and drop like a stone. Only a very experienced (or crazy) pilot would pull such stunts more than once or twice. Beurling made them a matter of habit. He knew that the Spitfire could be nursed out of such self-induced trouble and get him home safely. But Beurling was not invincible; he was shot down four times over Malta. On 14 October 1942 (his last flight over Malta), Beurling scrambled with six other pilots from his squadron to intercept a raid of Ju 88s escorted by 60 Bf 109s, Macchi 202s and Reggiane 2001s just south of Zonqor Point. He strafed a bomber that he claimed to have shot down, but was, in turn, hit by return fire from the Ju 88: "I picked up about 30 bullet holes." Then he claimed to have damaged a Messerschmitt and to have blown the left wing of another Bf 109 off at the root. Seconds later, another German fighter hit him from below. He was wounded in the heel, elbow and ribs, and his Spitfire was set on fire. He managed to bail out into the sea. During this action, no Messerschmitt was in fact destroyed. Only 2. Staffel (Black 1/7619) of I/JG53, flown by Obfw Josef Edere who was wounded, was damaged in the action, and Edere crash-landed at San Pietro, Sicily. Beurling was probably shot down by Obfw Riker of 4/JG53 or Ltn Karl von Lieres of 2/JG27 (who was credited with his 26th). Of the seven Ju 88s claimed to have been shot down by the RAF, only one did not return. After his rescue, Beurling was hospitalised.

Beurling was then sent back to Britain on 31 October 1942. On the way, the B-24 transport aircraft he was aboard crashed into the sea off Gibraltar. Beurling was one of only three survivors.

On 4 November he received the Distinguished Service Order, the citation read:

"Pilot Officer George Frederick BEURLING, D.F.C., D.F.M. (128707), Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, No. 249 Squadron. Since being awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, Pilot Officer Beurling has destroyed a further six enemy aircraft, bringing his total victories to 28. During one sortie on 13 October 1942, he shot down a Junkers 88 and two Messerschmitt 109s. The following day, in a head-on attack on enemy bombers, he destroyed one of them before he observed his leader being attacked by an enemy fighter. Although wounded, Pilot Officer Beurling destroyed the fighter. Then climbing again, although his aircraft was hit by enemy fire, he shot down another fighter before his own aircraft was so damaged that he was forced to abandon it. He descended safely on to the sea and was rescued. This officer's skill and daring are unexcelled."

Over Malta, he had claimed over 27 kills, by far the highest total by an RAF pilot during the campaign.

War bond drive
After landing back in Britain, Beurling was then sent to Canada to join a Victory Loan Drive, selling war bonds, being the guest of honour at a parade in Verdun and meeting Prime Minister Mackenzie King. He was promoted to war substantive Flying Officer (on probation) on 30 January 1943. He did not enjoy the war bond campaign. Also, he often said things that embarrassed the RCAF, such as that he enjoyed killing people. The leg wound Beurling had received over Malta, combined with his poor general health, returned him to hospital for several weeks. He completed his promotional work in mid-1943 and also met his future wife, Diana Whittall in Vancouver.

Instructor
Returning to Britain, Beurling was posted as a gunnery instructor to 61 OTU. On 27 May 1943, he was posted to the Central Gunnery School at RAF Sutton Bridge. On 8 June, during a mock dogfight, Beurling was forced to bail out of Spitfire II P7913 when the engine caught fire after being accidentally hit. It is alleged that whilst stationed at RAF Sutton Bridge he actually flew under the Crosskeys Bridge that crosses the Nene, which still stands today having been built in 1897.

Royal Canadian Air Force
On 1 September 1943, Beurling transferred to the RCAF, and was posted to an operational squadron, 403 (a return to his first squadron) at Kenley, flying the new Spitfire IX. Shooting down an Fw 190 of JG 2 in September, but unhappy with flying sweeps, Beurling requested command of a flight of North American P-51 Mustangs in order to carry out deep penetration, free-roaming raids into Germany. His request was turned down.

Disciplinary problems annoyed his commander, but Beurling was promoted to flight lieutenant. However, his stunting of a de Havilland Tiger Moth at zero feet over his airfield eventually led to his Wing Commander, Hugh Godefroy, threatening him with a court martial. Subsequently, Beurling was transferred to 126 Wing HQ and then to 412 Squadron.

At 412 Squadron, Beurling again came into conflict with his commander for stunting and his lack of teamwork, leading to his eventual grounding. He claimed his last kill on 30 December, shooting down and wounding Uzz. Heinz Wyrich of 5 Staffel, JG 26 flying a Fw 190A-45 W.Nr. 1175, Weisse 16 2 km S. of Romaine, when the squadron was covering returning American bombers near Compiègne, France.

Discharge
Beurling returned to Canada in April 1944. He was given an honourable discharge in October and, despite an attempt to join the United States Army Air Forces, his wartime flying was over. He ended his career as a squadron leader with 31 and one shared official kills, nine claimed damaged, along with a DSO, DFC and a DFM and Bar.

Death
In 1948, Beurling was recruited to fly P-51 Mustangs for the Israeli Air Force. After a test flight, Beurling fatally crashed his Noorduyn Norseman transport aircraft while landing at Aeroporto dell'Urbe in Rome on 20 May 1948, just six days after the Israeli Declaration of Independence. Also killed was British volunteer Leonard Cohen, another Malta RAF pilot. It was his tenth crash. Suspicion at the time of the accident centred on possible sabotage, which was never proven. "The initial report, while it identified the crew as Beurling and Cohen, acknowledged that the bodies were burned beyond recognition." Beurling's widow, family and personal friends were not in attendance at the funeral in Rome. On a small brass plate over the lid of the coffin were the words "Colonel Georgio Beurling". Beurling's coffin was kept for three months in a warehouse in the Verano Monumental Cemetery, as nobody had claimed the body. Then his widow, Diana Whittall Gardner, had him buried in the Cimitero Acattolico behind the Cestia Pyramid, between the graves of Percy Bysshe Shelley and John Keats. In November 1950, two and half years after his death, Beurling's casket arrived at Haifa Airport. His coffin, draped with the blue and white Israeli flag, was laid in a nearby air force base, where an honour guard of young airmen mounted a silent watch. During the long funeral in the streets of Haifa, Israeli Air Force aircraft paid homage to Beurling. At last, he was re-interred in the military cemetery at the foot of Mount Carmel. The grave is marked, as are the others in Israel Defense Forces cemeteries, with only name, serial number and rank: for Beurling that of segen (lieutenant).

Legacy
Malta Spitfire, an account of his time in Malta, co-written by Leslie Roberts and Beurling, was first published in 1943.

"In Verdun the only reminder of the famous son is the boulevard which carries Beurling's name." Beurling Academy, a high school in the Lester B. Pearson School Board in Verdun, is also named after him.

Summary of victory claims
Beurling was provisionally credited with 31 air victories destroyed (and one third shared destroyed), and 9 damaged.

title: George Beurling


text:
Schlern

The Schlern (Sciliar ; Sciliër; 2,563 m) is a mountain of the Dolomites in South Tyrol, Italy. The peak at the north west end of the mountain (left, in the image at right) was first ascended in July 1880 by Johann Santner. It is named the Santner Spitze in his honour.

The Schlern dominates the villages of Seis am Schlern and Völs am Schlern, and the summit can be reached following the circular route marked with the number 1 from both villages.

At 1700 m, there is the Schlernboden inn and on the summit plateau is the Schlernhaus inn 2457 m, both open from 1 June to 15 October. The highest summit is the Petz with 2564 m.

The Schlern is sung of in the Bozner Bergsteigerlied as one of South Tyrol's landmarks. Its characteristic profile appears on the Der Schlern - Zeitschrift für Südtiroler Landeskunde (Magazine for South Tyrolean Regional Studies) and the logo pressed into Loacker's wafer biscuits.

Gallery
 Image:Schlern in winter.jpg Image:Schlern in der Abendsonne.jpg Image:Schlern_pano.jpg Image:Schlern-seiseralm.jpg Image:Schlern - Knüppelsteig 01.jpg|The southern summit approach

title: Schlern