The now published study of the complete genome of four cave bears from different regions of Europe from Spain to the Caucasus from the period between 71,000-34,000 BC shows that at least part of this genome is still to be found today in the genome of the brown bear. Ron Pinhasi, from the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, says, "For the first time ever, DNA from an extinct Ice Age species has been found in a still-living population - apart from the human lineage." still be able to participate in the evolutionary process for tens of thousands of years. [read more]

Publikation in "Nature Ecology & Evolution": Partial genomic survival of cave bears in living brown bears. Axel Barlow, James A. Cahill, Stefanie Hartmann, Christoph Theunert, Georgios Xenikoudakis, Gloria G. Fortes, Johanna L. A. Paijmans, Gernot Rabeder, Christine Frischauf, Aurora Grandal-d’Anglade, Ana García-Vázquez, Marine Murtskhvaladze, Urmas Saarma, Peeter Anijalg, Tomaž Skrbinšek, Giorgio Bertorelle, Boris Gasparian, Guy Bar-Oz, Ron Pinhasi, Montgomery Slatkin, Love Dalén, Beth Shapiro and Michael Hofreiter. DOI: 10.1038/s41559-018-0654-8