Yetis Exist, DNA Sequencing Study Suggests

Yetis exist, according to geneticist Bryan Sykes from Oxford University, saying he has sequenced the fabled animal's DNA.

The results were a 100 percent match to a sample of polar bear jawbone found in Norway, The Telegraph reports. The jawbone dates back at least 40,000 years and probably as many as 120,000, which would place it squarely during the era when the polar bear was separating from the brown bear into different species.

Based on this, Sykes surmises that the yeti represents a subspecies of brown bear descended from a polar bear ancestor or a remaining hybrid of the two, the BBC reports.

The study began when Sykes teamed up with colleagues at the University of Lausanne to issue a call for individuals claiming to have samples from the creature considered by many to be mythological.

"I'm as curious as anyone to know what these creatures might be and I saw an opportunity to do a proper scientific study because of the advances in the analysis of hair samples," Sykes told The Guardian.

To those who may deride the idea, Sykes explains: "The principle purpose of the project, is not to find the yeti -- though it can be interpreted that way and usually is -- but really it's to do a systematic study on what material is alleged to have come from a yeti, because that's never been done."

The latest study included two specimens. One was collected by a hunter in the western Himalayan region of Ladakh nearly 40 years ago. So stunned by the animal he shot, the hunter kept some of its remains, passing them on to a French mountaineer who then contributed a sample of hair to Sykes, according to The Telegraph. The second sample consisted of a single hair discovered in a bamboo forest 10 years ago by a team of filmmakers in Bhutan, 800 miles east from Ladakh.

"I've been able to develop a protocol to get good DNA from a single hair shaft, no roots required," Sykes told The Guardian. "I've been going around museums and also getting samples sent in from mummies and stuffed animals and putting them through the analysis of mitochondrial DNA."

The researcher says he has his own theories about what the creature may resemble.

"The fact that the hunter, who had great experience of bears, thought this one was in some way unusual and was frightened of it, makes me wonder if this species of bear might behave differently," he told reporters. "Maybe it is more aggressive, more dangerous or is more bipedal than other bears."

Sykes said the results of the study have been submitted to a journal for peer review.