14 DAY TRIAL // Bryan Sykes, a professor of human genetics at Oxford University, claims to have solved the mystery surrounding Yeti, a creature otherwise known as Bigfoot or the Abominable Snowman.
Long story short, this researcher says that, after analyzing supposed Yeti hairs found in the Himalayas, he reached the conclusion that, far from being a product of people's imagination, this creature is probably a cross between a polar bear and a brown one.
On the other hand, the professor argues that, since these hair samples are a match to a species of polar bears that roamed the Earth some 120,000 years ago, it is possible that Yeti is a descendant of present-day polar bears' ancestor.
“This is an exciting and completely unexpected result that gave us all a surprise. There's more work to be done on interpreting the results. I don't think it means there are ancient polar bears wandering around the Himalayas,” he said, as cited by Mirror.
“But we can speculate on what the possible explanation might be. It could mean there is a sub species of brown bear in the High Himalayas descended from the bear that was the ancestor of the polar bear. Or it could mean there has been more recent hybridization between the brown bear and the descendant of the ancient polar bear,” he went on to argue.
The researcher is to detail his findings in a book, i.e. “The Yeti Enigma: A DNA Detective Story,” which will be published sometime next spring.