%0 Journal Article
%A Valdiosera Morales, Cristina
%A García Garitagoitia, José Luis
%A García García, Nuria
%A Doabrio Villarejo, Ignacio
%A Thomas, Mark G.
%A Hänni, Catherine
%A Arsuaga Ferreras, Juan Luis
%A Barnes, Ian
%A Hofreiter, Michael
%A Orlando, Ludovic
%A Götherström, Anders
%T Surprising migration and population size dynamicsin ancient Iberian brown bears (Ursus arctos)
%D 2008
%@ 0027-8424
%U https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/49568
%X The endangered brown bear populations (Ursus arctos) in Iberiahave been suggested to be the last fragments of the brown bearpopulation that served as recolonization stock for large parts ofEurope during the Pleistocene. Conservation efforts are intense,and results are closely monitored. However, the efforts are basedon the assumption that the Iberian bears are a unique unit that hasevolved locally for an extended period. We have sequenced mitochondrialDNA (mtDNA) from ancient Iberian bear remains andanalyzed them as a serial dataset, monitoring changes in diversityand occurrence of European haplogroups over time. Using thesedata, we show that the Iberian bear population has experienced adynamic, recent evolutionary history. Not only has the populationundergone mitochondrial gene flow from other European brownbears, but the effective population size also has fluctuated substantially.We conclude that the Iberian bear population has beena fluid evolutionary unit, developed by gene flow from otherpopulations and population bottlenecks, far from being in geneticequilibrium or isolated from other brown bear populations. Thus,the current situation is highly unusual and the population may infact be isolated for the first time in its history.
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