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Bigfoot DNA

written by: •edited by: Paul Arnold•updated: 9/11/2009

Bigfoot has been busy lately. Hundreds of eyewitness accounts, videos, photographs and tracks have been recorded - this creature certainly isn't shy. But does it really exist? There is no conclusive proof at the moment, but DNA testing might be able to give us the answer.

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    Does Bigfoot Exist?

    Sasquatch, Bigfoot, Yeti and the Abominable Snowman - separate species or all the same creature, just labelled differently in different parts of the world? That's a common question, but what people really want to know is - is bigfoot real?

    There's no reason to think that it isn't. The planet is full of species that have yet to be discovered and there are gaps in the evolutionary chain of many animal groups. However, Bigfoot is still a mystery and if it does exist has yet to be found. It doesn't help that the waters are muddied by the many hoaxes that have been perpetrated over the years.

    Short of actually capturing a Bigfoot or having a documentary crew observe its behaviour how can the giant animal's existence be verified? The answer could be through DNA analysis.

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    Bigfoot DNA

    Bigfoot is believed to inhabit the forests of Northwest America, and if that's the case would surely leave evidence of its existence all over the place, such as hair, blood, faeces. Expeditions to the areas thought to be the home of the creature could collect hundreds of biological specimens which could be analysed to find out a) if it's a species new to science and if so b) what are its closest relatives - could Bigfoot be a missing evolutionary link?

    There have been DNA tests conducted on specimens believed to have come from a Bigfoot but nothing conclusive has turned up.

    In 2001 the DNA of a hair sample from a tree in Bhutan was analyzed as it was thought by some that this could've come from a Yeti. What was interesting about the subsequent research was that the scientists who conducted the DNA tests found traces of DNA, but they couldn't say where the genetic material had come from. To them it was neither human nor was it from a bear, or any other creature known to science. Of course that is actually no proof that the hair came from a large ape-like creature. There is just no way of saying at the moment.

    In 2008 Bigfoot DNA analysis centred on the remains of an ape-like animal that was supposedly found in the woods of Georgia. Two hair samples were tested but the results were negative for those wanting proof that Bigfoot was alive and well. One of the samples was human and the other opossum. So Bigfoot failed the DNA test. It then turned out a few days later, as was reported widely by the press, that the Bigfoot 'corpse' was actually a gorilla costume.

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    Remains a Mystery

    So the Bigfoot mystery remains just that - a mystery. Many people will continue with their quest to find him, or her. There'll be many more hoaxes and may be one day a definitive answer.