UK mammals have 'Celtic fringe'
By Judith Burns
Science and environment reporter, BBC News
Voles, shrews, mice and stoats in northern and western areas have different DNA from their counterparts in other parts of the British Isles.
The paper, in Proceedings B journal, says the different populations arrived at the end of the last ice age.
The authors say the work sheds light on the origins of the Celtic people.
The traditional view is that the ancestors of British Celts spread from central Europe during the Iron Age and were later displaced by the arrival of the Anglo Saxons.
However, recent genetic studies have challenged this theory, suggesting a much earlier origin, dating back to the end of the last ice age, 19,000 years ago.
Field voles re-occupied the British Isles after the last ice age.
BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | UK mammals have 'Celtic fringe'
By Judith Burns
Science and environment reporter, BBC News
Voles, shrews, mice and stoats in northern and western areas have different DNA from their counterparts in other parts of the British Isles.
The paper, in Proceedings B journal, says the different populations arrived at the end of the last ice age.
The authors say the work sheds light on the origins of the Celtic people.
The traditional view is that the ancestors of British Celts spread from central Europe during the Iron Age and were later displaced by the arrival of the Anglo Saxons.
However, recent genetic studies have challenged this theory, suggesting a much earlier origin, dating back to the end of the last ice age, 19,000 years ago.
Field voles re-occupied the British Isles after the last ice age.
BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | UK mammals have 'Celtic fringe'
