Bigfoot DNA Tested

[lpetrich]

Skepticblog » Bigfoot and Yeti DNA: results are in
Sykes paper is a clarion call for higher standards for cryptozoology | Doubtful -- by Sharon Hill
Genetic analysis of hair samples attributed to yeti, bigfoot and other anomalous primates - Bryan Sykes and his colleagues

In contrast to Melba Ketchum's shoddy work, Bryan Sykes's work was a professional job. He and his colleagues sequenced genetic material from several hairs that purportedly came from Yeti or Sasquatch or similar animals. They then compared it to sequences stored in the GenBank archive, and they found several close matches.

• Himalayas: polar bear, serow (goat-like ungulate)
• Russia: brown bear, bovine, horse, raccoon, American black bear
• Sumatra: Malaysian tapir (piglike odd-toed ungulate)
• US: American black bear, canid (wolf/coyote/dog), mule deer, bovine, sheep, horse, North American porcupine, raccoon, human

There was only one human hair sample in the entire set, which is a credit to these samples' collectors.

Polar bears in the Himalayas? They could have been the closest sampled relatives of some Himalayan bears.

Raccoons and American black bears in Russia? Were those introduced animals or were some samples accidentally mixed up?

BS et al. conclude

While it is important to bear in mind that the absence of evidence is not evidence of absence and this survey cannot refute the existence of anomalous primates, neither has it found any evidence in support. Rather than persisting in the view that they have been ‘rejected by science’, advocates in the cryptozoology community have more work to do in order to produce convincing evidence for anomalous primates and now have the means to do so. The techniques described here put an end to decades of ambiguity about species identification of anomalous primate samples and set a rigorous standard against which to judge any future claims.

He is the author of The Seven Daughters of Eve, a popularization of some work involving using mitochondrial-DNA sequences to untangle humanity's early history. Those seven daughters are seven mitochondrial ancestors of Europeans.

Donald Prothero on that paper's reception:

One of their sites responding by mocking Sykes and calling him childish names! How mature! Cryptomundo had a weird post that completely misread the entire study as evidence in support of their claims. The buzz on the blogs favorable to Bigfoot is the same: grumbling, rejection, denial, or (mostly) no comment because (like all true believers) they don’t want to hear it. Not that I’m surprised. The Bigfooter community long ago stopped any pretense of working with scientists, or adopting the scientific method when it doesn’t give the results they want.

He and Daniel Loxton got similar responses to Abominable Science, a skeptical book on cryptids like Bigfoot that they had written.