How Species Form: What the Tangled History of Polar Bear and Brown Bear Relations Tells Us
Published:14 Jun.2022 Source:University at Buffalo
A new study is providing an enhanced look at the intertwined evolutionary histories of polar bears and brown bears.
Becoming separate species did not completely stop these animals from mating with each other. Scientists have known this for some time, but the new research draws on an expanded dataset -- including DNA from an ancient polar bear tooth -- to tease out more detail. The story that emerges reveals complexities similar to those that complicate human evolutionary history.