Natural History Wanderings

New research shows that all Polar Bears are descendents of a single female Brown Bear, who is not from Alaska as previously thought, but from Ireland. The discovery was made through the analysis of mitochondrial DNA from the bones of extinct brown bears collected in Irish caves.  To learn more read:
Polar bears: Polar bears’ ancestor is from Ireland, not Alaska, scientists say – latimes.com.
BBC News – Polar bears have maternal Irish brown bear ancestors.
Ancient Hybridization and an Irish Origin for the Modern Polar Bear Matriline (Current Biology)