I'm a little bit confused and disturbed by the news of a grizzly-polar bear hybrid bagged in northern Canada. I thought scientists were saying that polar bears were genetically more akin to weasels than to bears... how can they produce a viable hybrid? I mean, the so-called closely-related cats, tigers and lions, when crossbred, produced sterile tiglons and ligers. Horses and asses produce mules and democrats... uh, sorry... sterile mules. How can an oversized stoat and an ornery humpbacked ursine have enough in common, genetically, to produce a next generation, let alone create one which can continue to propagate the blend? Is this some freaky thing I didn't learn about in my high school biology class, or were they lying when they recently said that polar bears weren't technically Ursi maritimi but mustelae of some sort?
Dang, I hate when I have to reevaluate what modern scientists said because of something some yokel with a gun drags in. ;-)
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