My favorite monster of ALL time is the abominable snowman! Mostly because I KNOW he doesn’t
exist. Like NO WAY! [Scream]
I wasn’t yeti for that...
Hey there, little monsters, it’s Natalia for DNews!
If you’ve watched the classic Rudolph Christmas specials, or seen Scooby Doo, or ridden Disney’s
Matterhorn ride, you’re familiar with the fabled Yeti, or abominable snowman. For centuries,
tales have been told about a giant bipedal ape wandering the Himalayas. In Nepal, legends
of this mythical beast served as warnings to be wary of wild animals. These legends
are not so different from the origin of Yeti’s of North American cousin and greatest hide-and-go-seek
champ, Bigfoot, Sasquatch, or Skunk Ape.
These legends led to explorers searching far and wide for evidence of ape men. They’ve
casted footprints, collected bones, taken blurry photos, and looked for possible Yeti
habitats. There is even a word for those who study animals that are only rumored to exist-
cryptozoology. This not only includes the study of Yeti and Bigfoot, but also of Orang
Pendek, Yowie, the Loch Ness Monster, Mer People, and El Chupacabra. The main critique
of cryptozoology is that very few people follow the scientific method...and the field has
been plagued with hoaxes. But in recent years, scientists have collaborated with these cryptid
connoisseurs to conduct REAL scientific inquires in hopes of finding this possible new primate
species using the gold standard of biology -- DNA evidence. So even though the hunt for
Yeti may seem futile, there is an upside to the increased popularity of cryptozoology.
It allows scientists to teach scientific concepts to a broader audience and, as a result, has
yielded some great accidental discoveries.
Like Bigfoot, the majority of evidence for Yeti’s existence has been anecdotal, including
sightings or footprints. However, with the new ability to sequence environmental DNA,
Yeti hunters can now collect biomaterials when searching for this elusive loner. Environmental
DNA, or eDNA, is DNA that is left behind by an individual in its environment. EDNA can
be gleaned from hair, feces, saliva, feathers, soil, blood, blood meals from biting insects,
air (yes air), and water. Because the animal doesn’t have to be present to collect eDNA,
scientists can conduct a whole ecological survey without even seeing the animal they’re
looking for- like the fabled Yeti!
For instance, in 2014, alleged “Yeti” hairs were collected and analyzed. The sample
came back as a bear hair. But not just ANY bear hair. It was found to be a subspecies
of the Himalayan brown bear that had not yet been discovered. Not a bad consolation prize...
Another upside to looking for Yeti? It allows primatologists, those that study monkeys and
apes like myself, to talk about primate evolution! If you’re searching for a new species of
primate, you have to do your homework about primates, right? Well, many ‘squatchers
and yeti connoisseurs believe Gigantopithecus, an extinct Miocene ape that lived in India,
Nepal, Vietnam, and Laos roughly 9 million to 100,000 years ago, is the ancestor of these
ape men. Gigantopithecus is a genus with three species, the largest being Gigantopithecus
blacki, which some researchers estimate was over 8 feet tall!
However, researchers are basing the height of gigantopithecus solely on the size of its
massive mandible and a few HUGE teeth. Though parts of Giganto were giant, we don’t know
anything about its postcranial morphology -- everything below its head. And if you take
a look at Robust hominins, a bipedal human ancestor, you can see they have a similarly
large mandibles and teeth. But we have fossil evidence of the rest of this species body,
including this partial femur, that reveals they were only about 4 ½ feet tall. So assuming
Gigantopithecus was 8 feet tall JUST based on his jaw and teeth is a bit of a stretch!
As a primatologist, I know that the probability of Yeti’s existence is directly adjacent
to zero. Sure, we are still discovering new species of monkeys, including Cercopithecus
lomamiensis in Democratic Republic of Congo, but an 8 foot tall abominable beast? Highly
unlikely. However, the lack of evidence is not proof that it doesn’t exist. And it
gives scientists an opportunity to talk about uber cool new conservation science, hopefully
leading to a more science-literate public! That’s a future I’m Yeti for. Yeah I said
that...
What about you? Are you do you believe in the Abominable Snowman or Bigfoot? Tell us
in the comments below. And if you're interested in other hominid species and wonder if Neanderthals
were really all the dumb, check out this video right here and thank you for watching.