Evidence

bigfoot

Bigfoot is a large, bipedal species that has been seen in North America for centuries. The name "Bigfoot" was coined in the late 50's by a journalist in CA describing large tracks found at a logging site. Another name for this animal is "Sasquatch," which is an anglicized version of the Coast Salish word "se'sxac," meaning wild men. The origins of Bigfoot are widely debated, however, evidence shows close ties to humans & other great apes.

origins

Within the past 5 million years, dozens of hominoids lived & even coexisted with one another. A hominoid describes a primate that is part of a group including humans, their fossil ancestors & the great apes. These hominoids ranged in physical appearance, intelligence & capabilities. Ultimately, Homo sapiens (modern day humans) are believed to have outcompeted most of these other hominoids, making us & great apes the last living species. However, with evidence of Bigfoot surfacing for hundreds of years, it is only realistic that we acknowledge the existence of what looks to be another hominoid species.

Because of the tough competition between Homo sapiens and other hominoids, the Bigfoot species seems to have adapted to avoid us humans. When Bigfoot is discovered, it will likely be classified as an ape, but remember, humans are apes too. It is exciting to ponder where Bigfoot will fit on our fossil tree & how close they may come to human! For now, we call them relict hominoids, meaning a hominoid species that has survived from an earlier time period.

intelligence

Evidence strongly suggests that Sasquatch sleeps on the ground just like us humans. The Olympic Project of Washington has documented several nesting sites containing over 20 ground nests that resemble those of known apes & measure between 4-9 feet. Between credible eye-witness reports, ground nesting sites & no evidence of nesting in trees, we can conclude that Sasquatch spends their time sleeping on the ground.

According to Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker, English scientist & professor of neuroscience & psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, sleep is essential to intelligence, memory function, & evolution. Why are we smarter than other primates? It may just have something to do with sleep. REM, or Rapid Eye Movement sleep, is a deep paralysis that boosts social complexity & cognitive intelligence. Because primates sleep in trees, they cannot achieve REM sleep, as the sleep paralysis would cause them to fall to their death.

While other hominoids were sleeping in trees, Homo erectus (our ancestor) learned how to make fire, allowing them to sleep safely on the ground & reach REM sleep. This change in sleeping patterns could be what evolved Homo sapien intelligence. Humans spend 20-25% of our sleep in the REM state, compared to a 9% average across other primates. Other apes sleep longer, but we sleep deeper, leaving us more time for social learning & innovation!

Primates sleep in trees to avoid predators, which is something Sasquatch doesn’t really need to worry about. Being the largest & most powerful animal in the forest may have caused them to transition from tree-dwelling to bipedalism & ground-sleeping. What does this mean? If modern humans evolved our social complexity & cognitive intelligence through REM sleep, Sasquatch may have too!

Bigfoots have been reported to range in color, size & stature.

SPECIES BREAKDOWN

A hominoid describes a primate that is part of a group including humans, their fossil ancestors & the great apes. These hominoids ranged in physical appearance, intelligence & capabilities. Here are a few species, extinct & living, that share similarities with Sasquatch!

anatomy

Red arrows represent where the foot bends

After close examination of hundreds of credible footprints, scientists have been clued in to why the creature walks the way it does. A human has a longitudinal arch, which means the entire foot is incorporated into the lever which propels it off of the ground, & weight is pushed to the ball of the foot. The bending happens at the toes, providing traction. In a foot with midfoot flexibility, the weight is not concentrated on the ball of the foot, but rather the midfoot.

Midfoot flexibility causes weight to transfer from rear to forefront & is most commonly present in apes. This anatomy shows itself in the form of a midtarsal break within footprints. The midtarsal break is a feature of the print that occurs when the midfoot bends, causing the dirt or sand to lift up into a small mound in the middle of the footprint.

Although midfoot flexibility is attributed to apes, Sasquatch footprints also suggest human anatomy in the form of an aligned big toe. Other great apes have a divergent big toe, which is used for climbing. Humans & Sasquatch have transitioned to bipedalism, causing their big toe to align with the other toes as their need for climbing trees has diminished.

learn the prints

Patterson Gimlin Film Site Casts by Bob Titmus, 1967 These two casts are part of a large collection of prints documented roughly 2 weeks after the PG film was captured. Taxidermist/researcher Bob Titmus was responsible for casting the trackway.

Dr. Jeff Meldrum's Half Cast, 1996 This track shows a possible half of a Sasquatch footprint, initially discovered by researcher Paul Freeman at Mill Creek, Louisiana, in February of 1996. This cast was part of a larger trackway which was analyzed & cast by Dr. Jeff Meldrum, Sasquatch footprint expert of Idaho State University.

Sasquatch Hand Print by Researcher Ivan Marx, 1969 Although Ivan Marx's reputation was highly controversial, this cast does show anatomy that would be difficult to fake.

This possible baby print was found in Iowa, & doesn't appear to show midfoot flexibility.

Orang Pendek Cast 2013 This cast was found in the province of Jambi near Pauh Tinggi on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. It was the first cast obtained by the Orang Pendek Project, a multi-year collaboration between Cliff Barackman and Dally Sandradiputra.

hair samples

In addition to footprints, hair samples have also been analyzed & determined to originate from an unknown ape. Dr.Jeff Meldrum and Dr. Henner Fahrenbach examined unknown hair samples to determine their origin. In order to identify a species, scientists observe overlapping scales, which can be different in color & thickness, diameter of the hair, cross-sectional shape, & length of the hair shaft. Human hair grows differently & longer than other species, therefore showing its own characteristics such as a cut end & distinctive follicle structure. After Fahrenbach gathered nearly a dozen samples that were not linked to any known animal, the two scientists began studying their similarities.

Their findings were interesting in that two of the samples had the same structural characteristics, making them the same species, however their hair color & hair length varied, as it does in Homo sapiens as well. Although the samples were ultimately inconclusive, they did point to the probability of a relict hominoid species, with origin that resembles both humans & other great apes.

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PATTERSON GIMLIN FILM

On October 20th, 1967, Roger Patterson & Bob Gimlin headed out on horseback to Bluff Creek, California, as part of a search for this species. After spending about 2 weeks in the field, Roger captured a one-minute film of a Sasquatch. What sets this footage apart is the muscle structure observed with each of the creature's movements, her pendulous breasts, and the footprints she left behind. To this day, the Patterson Gimlin footage has remained the most credible evidence of this species, as it attempts to prove it a hoax have failed. The individual in the film, nicknamed, "Patty" is estimated to stand between 6-7 feet tall. About 9 days after the footage was shot, a taxidermist/tracker named Bob Titmus cast 10 of Patty's footprints that had been well preserved in the sand. These prints offer insight into the anatomy of this species, as they show midfoot flexibility in the form of a midtarsal break, a detail that wouldn't be discovered for another 30 years.

eye witness accounts

Thousands of people have reported Bigfoot encounters across the country. The earliest reports are represented through Native American lore. European settlers, prospectors & explorers like Teddy Roosevelt all share stories of hairy, bipedal creatures roaming the North American forests. To find sightings near you, visit the reports tab! Illustrations by @mohr.art