Polar Bears Trace their Irish Ancestry

Extinct Irish brown bears got lucky with polar bears during the last ice age.

New genetic research published in Current Biology shows that modern polar bears are partly descended from brown bears in Ireland. An international team of scientists found that polar bears share a distinct DNA sequence with the now extinct brown bears that lived there during the last ice age. The genetic link is believed to come from interbreeding as prehistoric polar bears and Irish female brown bears crossed paths due to climate change. Studies of bone and tooth extracts showed that ten Irish brown bears from 10,000 to 38,000 years ago had the maternal DNA now found in every polar bear. A scientist involved in the study said that this interbreeding has led to the complete replacement of the original polar bear mitochondria. The news comes as a shock to many, since polar and brown bears differ greatly in terms of size, colour, and presence in Coca-Cola commercials.