There's a bear in there! Yeti, Bigfoot et al DNA analysis

[Thylacoleo Gal]

Prospects are looking glum for "surviving hominid" theories about BF, the Yeti and Orang Pendek, sadly.
I mean, c'mon - who would not want it to be true?
The link with polar bears is intriguing, though.

Open Access -->

Genetic analysis of hair samples attributed to yeti, bigfoot and other anomalous primates
Sykes BC et al, 2 July 2014
doi: 10.1098/rspb.2014.0161
Proc. R. Soc. B 22 August 2014 vol. 281 no. 1789 20140161
rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/281/1789/20140161
In the first ever systematic genetic survey, we have used rigorous decontamination followed by mitochondrial 12S RNA sequencing to identify the species origin of 30 hair samples attributed to anomalous primates. Two Himalayan samples, one from Ladakh, India, the other from Bhutan, had their closest genetic affinity with a Palaeolithic polar bear, Ursus maritimus. Otherwise the hairs were from a range of known extant mammals.

Commentary (Paywalled) -->

Molecular analysis of ‘anomalous primate’ hair samples: a commentary on Sykes et al.
Proc. R. Soc. B August 22, 2014 281 1789 20140843; 1471-2954
rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/281/1789/20140843

Popular -->

Yeti, Big Foot debunked: DNA reveals the bear facts
Yahoo7 and Agencies July 2, 2014
au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/24368265/yeti-big-foot-debunked-dna-reveals-the-bear-facts/

[mingle]

Did anyone expect the tests to show anything else?

The interesting twist is the genetic link between the two species of bear...

[Thylacoleo Gal]

Jul 3, 2014 10:16:02 GMT 10 mingle said:

Did anyone expect the tests to show anything else?

Well yes, but as the saying goes, "Hope springs eternal."

[mingle]

Jul 4, 2014 9:41:01 GMT 10 Thylacoleo Gal said:

Jul 3, 2014 10:16:02 GMT 10 mingle said:

Did anyone expect the tests to show anything else?

Well yes, but as the saying goes, "Hope springs eternal."

Not for the bigfoot or yeti, it doesn't... :-)

[Thylacoleo Gal]

Jul 4, 2014 13:17:47 GMT 10 mingle said:

Jul 4, 2014 9:41:01 GMT 10 Thylacoleo Gal said:

Well yes, but as the saying goes, "Hope springs eternal."

Not for the bigfoot or yeti, it doesn't... :-)

Oh noooo!

Is there .. is there .. no hope at all?

[Deleted]

I don't know...go to this website: (www.bfro.net) and read some of the reports and view some of the evidence there (footprint casts, photos of tree structures, video, photos etc etc).
Then suggest that all of these sightings were mistaken reports of bears.
I am sure a percentage were just that, but not all.
Just the sheer "strangeness" of some of the reports seems beyond the imaginitive ability of most people.

I am sure that I have read in the past that North american hair samples sent for identification have been returned labeled as "unknown primate".
While not a positive answer for "Bigfoot", what else could it be?

We do love a mystery....

[Thylacoleo Gal]

Jul 5, 2014 10:54:35 GMT 10 @drtom said:

... We do love a mystery....

Sure do!

[lurcherman]

Could there be an as yet undiscovered species of bear living in the Himalayas?

[vincent]

Jul 5, 2014 20:52:23 GMT 10 lurcherman said:

Could there be an as yet undiscovered species of bear living in the Himalayas?

Could there be an undiscovered Yowee or Bigfoot? Sure. I think it's possible.

[Thylacoleo Gal]

Rheinhold Messner thinks it's a bear.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeti#Possible_explanations
Sounds plausible to me. I'd think it unlikely relict hominids could live in the sort of environment that the alleged Yeti is said to inhabit.

[Deleted]

Jul 9, 2014 7:03:27 GMT 10 Thylacoleo Gal said:

Rheinhold Messner thinks it's a bear.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeti#Possible_explanations
Sounds plausible to me. I'd think it unlikely relict hominids could live in the sort of environment that the alleged Yeti is said to inhabit.

This thread has motivated me to look at some photos I have of alleged "Yeti" tracks in books such as "Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World" by Welfare & Fairley. Most of the footprints look very short and "pug-like", more reminiscent of a bear's foot than that of a hominid footprint.
Hominid footprints tend to be long and narrow. "Bigfoot" didn't get it's name for having small feet....
So, yes, I am inclined to think that the footprints found above the snow line in the Himalayas and surrounds are very likely to be that of bears.

But I regard the evidence for a North American primate ("Bigfoot") as much, much more compelling.

[Thylacoleo Gal]

I've been watching the programme about unknown-hominid DNA that's being broadcast by the ABC. Sadly, so far all the hair/tissue offerings have turned out to be from mundane species, with the exception of the putative Yeti specimen that turned panned out as a polar bear/plain-ordinary bear hybrid. The North American test-cases have all been from bears, coyotes, raccoons and the like. Even the one where the guy claimed he personally shot BF and here's some hair/tissue that he personally took from the carcass.

Prospects are starting to look bleak if these are the best that's going.