Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Yeti Bears Up Under Scrutiny

Posted by timothy on from the hey-hey-boo-boo dept.

Rambo Tribble writes "Bryan Sykes of Oxford University has discovered that hairs, ostensibly from the Yeti creature of the Himalayas, were '... genetically identical to polar bear.' What the professor is suggesting is that a rare hybrid of brown and polar bear may be the actual, elusive creature of legend."

15 of 104 comments (clear)

  1. How hard can it be? by guytoronto · · Score: 3, Insightful

    How hard can it be to really capture one on film? There are reports almost daily of bears wandering into populated areas looking for food. If this mythical creature actually exists, it should be dead easy to get legitimate proof via baited trap and motion-sensing camera.

    For gawd sakes, the Ewoks managed to capture Chewbacca. Are we really that incapable?

    1. Re:How hard can it be? by rally2xs · · Score: 5, Informative

      What's hard about it is that its in the Hymalyas, and from the sound of things, people that see it in the clear would say, "Oh, that's a bear" and people that have it come out of a snowstorm and try to eat them think its the abominable snowman...

    2. Re:How hard can it be? by Anne_Nonymous · · Score: 5, Funny

      We tried that, but the UFOs kept stealing the cameras.

    3. Re:How hard can it be? by Cajun+Hell · · Score: 4, Funny

      What are you talking about? There's tons of photographs and other physical evidence, confirming the existence of bears. Some bears have been captured, too. At this point, I'd say people claiming bears to be mythical, are he ones who are making extraordinary statements which need backing up.

      --
      "Believe me!" -- Donald Trump
    4. Re:How hard can it be? by SJHillman · · Score: 5, Funny

      I think Mitch Hedberg summed it up best:

      "I think Bigfoot is blurry, that's the problem. It's not the photographer's fault. Bigfoot is blurry, and that's extra scary to me. There's a large, out-of-focus monster roaming the countryside. Run, he's fuzzy, get out of here."

  2. Errr... wat? by Slartibartfast · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If it's "genetically identical" to a polar bear, well... doesn't that mean it's a polar bear?

    1. Re:Errr... wat? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      If it's "genetically identical" to a polar bear, well... doesn't that mean it's a polar bear?

      Prof Sykes found that he had a 100% match with a sample from an ancient polar bear jawbone found in Svalbard, Norway, that dates back to between 40,000 and 120,000 years ago - a time when the polar bear and closely related brown bear were separating as different species.

      So it is a polar bear, just not a modern polar bear.

    2. Re:Errr... wat? by Will.Woodhull · · Score: 4, Informative

      I'm blowing off some mod points to post this. Oh well. This is arguably more important than saying something is +1 Funny.

      Homology is a term related to convergent evolution. It means that appearance of structures in different species is similar, even though the genetic history-- the evolution-- is very different. The genetics are different. This study found that the genetics between a candidate yeti and an ancient polar bear were identical. By its very definition, homoplasy is not an applicable term.

      Stripping this post of connective verbiage that can be inferred, the take-away from this is that

      1. While adding fancy new words to your vocabulary is commendable,

      2. It is also necessary to actually learn what the new word means before using it.

      --
      Will
    3. Re:Errr... wat? by Richy_T · · Score: 5, Funny

      Maybe it is a bipolar bear.

  3. Hmmmm .... by gstoddart · · Score: 3, Insightful

    What the professor is suggesting is that a rare hybrid of brown and polar bear may be the actual, elusive creature of legend

    Why does this sound like he's made up another undocumented creature as his explanation?

    This sounds like he either tested a sample which was from a hoax, or he's just making shit up.

    I'm going with "researcher tests hoax, comes up with own unfounded explanation to get publicity". Because there's no more evidence for the existence of this creature in the Himalayas than the yeti.

    --
    Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    1. Re:Hmmmm .... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      Pizzly Bear

    2. Re:Hmmmm .... by SJHillman · · Score: 3, Informative

      Polar/brown bear hybrids are rare... not undocumented

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grizzly–polar_bear_hybrid

  4. Obligitory xkcd by Wormholio · · Score: 3, Insightful

    http://xkcd.com/1235/

    --
    "Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." -- William Butler Yeats
  5. Re:So is anyone shocked? by SJHillman · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You could argue that a religion is just a legend that won't die. Or that gets resurrected a few days after it dies.

  6. Re:So is anyone shocked? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    How to get modded "Insightful" on Slashdot, tip #56:

    Bash religion.