Polar Bears Maternal Ancestors were Irish

Photo by Alan Wilson

Scientists analyzing the teeth and skeletons of 17 brown bears that were found in eight Irish caves have discovered that the extinct Irish brown bears are actually the maternal ancestors of today’s polar bears.

It was found that the older specimens, from between 43,000 and 38,000 years old and before the last ice age, had the same genetic signature as modern eastern European brown bears. However, the bears who lived in Ireland between 38,000 to 10,000 years ago were a much closer match to the DNA of modern polar bears.

It was thought previously that polar bears closest ancestor had been the brown bears living on the islands in the Alexander Archipelago off the coast of Alaska.

While the bones of brown bears are found throughout Ireland, the best preserved examples were recovered by cavers at Poll na mBear (Cave of the Bears) in May 1997.

This research is pubished in the latest edition of Current Biology.

Polar bears have maternal Irish brown bear ancestors [BBC]