Ancient hybridization and an Irish origin for the modern polar bear matriline

Ceiridwen J. Edwards, Marc A. Suchard, Philippe Lemey, John J Welch, Ian Barnes, Tara L. Fulton, Ross Barnett, Tamsin C O'Connell, Peter Coxon, Nigel Monaghan, Cristina E Valdiosera, Eline Lorenzen, Eske Willerslev, Gennady F. Baryshnikov, Andrew Rambaut, Mark G. Thomas, Daniel G. Bradley, Beth Shapiro

    Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

    187 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) are among those species most susceptible to the rapidly changing arctic climate, and their survival is of global concern. Despite this, little is known about polar bear species history. Future conservation strategies would significantly benefit from an understanding of basic evolutionary information, such as the timing and conditions of their initial divergence from brown bears (U. arctos) or their response to previous environmental change.
    Original languageEnglish
    JournalCurrent Biology
    Volume21
    Issue number15
    Pages (from-to)1251-1258
    Number of pages8
    ISSN0960-9822
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 9 Aug 2011

    Keywords

    • Animals
    • Molecular Sequence Data
    • Nucleic Acid Hybridization
    • Phylogeny
    • Ursidae

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