Abominable Snowman mystery continues: DNA analysis reveals that the Himalayan Yeti is NOT a polar bear's ancient cousin


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New DNA analysis claims the Yeti (artist's impression pictured) isn't an ancient polar bear, but instead is a Himalayan bear

New DNA analysis claims the Yeti (artist's impression pictured) isn't an ancient polar bear, but instead is a Himalayan bear

It's a mystery that has fascinated scientists and the public for decades: just what IS the ape-like creature - known as the Yeti - said to be stalking the Himalayan mountains?

Last year, a geneticist claimed to have solved the mystery when he said the Yeti was a distant relative of the polar bear, thought to have died out more than 40,000 years ago.

But new DNA analysis has thrown doubts on this theory. 

Researchers have shown that the two hair samples analysed actually originate from a modern polar bear, and a type of rare bear native to the high mountain ranges.

The analysis suggests that the Yeti is not a previously unseen primate, nor is it a polar or brown bear hybrid as previously thought, but instead a sub-species of the Himalayan bear.

The original analysis was carried out by Bryan Sykes, professor of human genetics at the University of Oxford. 

He set out to collect and test Yeti hair samples to find out which species they came from.

In particular, he analysed hairs from two unknown animals, one found in the Western Himalayan region of Ladakh and the other from Bhutan, 800 miles (1,287 km) to the east.

After subjecting the hairs to the most advanced DNA tests available,  he compared the results to other animals' genomes stored on the GenBank database. 

From this, Professor Sykes found he had a 100 per cent match with a sample from an ancient polar bear jawbone found in Svalbard, Norway.

This jawbone dates back between 40,000 and 120,000 years - a time when the polar bear and closely related brown bear were separating as different species.

Professor Sykes believed the most likely explanation was that the animals from which the hairs were taken were hybrids - crosses between polar bears and brown bears. 

The species are closely related and are known to interbreed where their territories overlap.

But, this theory has been questioned due to an error in analysing the data.

Researchers Ross Barnett, from the University of Copenhagen, and Ceiridwen Edwards from the University of Oxford looked at the same hair samples that led Professor Sykes.

'We should like to propose an alternative origin for the hair samples,' the scientists said in their paper.

Last year, a geneticist analysed hair samples that are said to have been taken from the mysterious Yeti creature.  He said he had a 100%match with a sample from an ancient polar bear jawbone and said the Yeti was an ancient relative of polar bear (stock image pictured) crossed with a brown bear

Last year, a geneticist analysed hair samples that are said to have been taken from the mysterious Yeti creature.  He said he had a 100%match with a sample from an ancient polar bear jawbone and said the Yeti was an ancient relative of polar bear (stock image pictured) crossed with a brown bear

But, doubts have been thrown on this theory. Researchers Ross Barnett and Ceiridwen Edwards looked at the same hair samples analysed by Professor Sykes. They propose that the samples belong to a Himalayan bear - a sub-species of the brown bear that lives in the higher reaches of the Himalayas

But, doubts have been thrown on this theory. Researchers Ross Barnett and Ceiridwen Edwards looked at the same hair samples analysed by Professor Sykes. They propose that the samples belong to a Himalayan bear - a sub-species of the brown bear that lives in the higher reaches of the Himalayas

'The Himalayan bear is a sub-species of the brown bear that lives in the higher reaches of the Himalayas, in remote, mountainous areas of Pakistan, Nepal, Tibet, Bhutan and India. 

'Its populations are small and isolated, and it is extremely rare in many parts of its range.' 

Professor Sykes acknowledged the error, issuing a statement: 'Importantly, for the thrust of the paper as a whole, the conclusion that these Himalayan Yeti samples were certainly not from a hitherto unknown primate is unaffected.'

ANALYSING YETI DNA

Last year, in what was the first serious scientific study of the abominable snowman for 50 years, Professor Bryan Sykes from the University of Oxford analysed 30 samples of hair.

The hairs had supposedly been shed by yetis, or their bigfoot cousins, and were part of museum and private collections from around the world.

Twenty eight of the hairs were genetic matches to known animals from bears to racoons, horses and cows. But two didn't fit the mould. 

Their DNA matched that recovered from a 40,000-year-old polar bear fossil.

One hair was reddish brown and found in a Yeti nest in a bamboo forest in Bhutan, ten years ago.

The second was golden brown and taken from a Yeti in Ladakh on the Tibet-India border 40 years ago. 

But new research suggests Professor Sykes's findings were in fact down to an error in analysing the data.

Researchers Ross Barnett, from the University of Copenhagen, and Ceiridwen Edwards from the University of Oxford looked at the same hair samples that led Professor Sykes to make his bold claim. 

They propose that the previously unexplained samples come from the Himalayan bear - a sub-species of the brown bear that lives in the higher reaches of the Himalayas, in remote, mountainous areas of Pakistan, Nepal, Tibet, Bhutan and India.

Yetis, also known as the Abominable Snowman, have been recorded for centuries in the Himalayas, with local people and mountaineers claiming to have seen hairy, ape-like creatures.

A photograph of a Yeti footprint, taken by British climber Eric Shipton at the base of Everest, sparked global mania after it was taken in 1951.

Legendary mountaineer Reinhold Messner, who became the first man to climb Everest without oxygen, has studied yetis since he had a terrifying encounter with a mysterious creature in Tibet in 1986.

Yetis, also known as the Abominable Snowman, have been recorded for centuries in the Himalayas (pictured), with local people and mountaineers claiming to have seen hairy, ape-like creatures. A photograph of a Yeti footprint, taken at the base of Everest, sparked global mania after it was taken in 1951

Yetis, also known as the Abominable Snowman, have been recorded for centuries in the Himalayas (pictured), with local people and mountaineers claiming to have seen hairy, ape-like creatures. A photograph of a Yeti footprint, taken at the base of Everest, sparked global mania after it was taken in 1951

He uncovered an image in a 300-year-old Tibetan manuscript of a Chemo - another local name for the yeti, with text alongside it which was translated to read: 'The Yeti is a variety of bear living in inhospitable mountainous areas.'

Professor Sykes added: 'Bigfootologists and other enthusiasts seem to think that they've been rejected by science.

'Science doesn't accept or reject anything, all it does is examine the evidence and that is what I'm doing.' 



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