Alleged 'Bigfoot' DNA Samples Sequenced, Turn Out To Be Horses, Dogs, and Bears 198
sciencehabit writes: In North America, they're called Bigfoot or Sasquatch. In the Himalayan foothills, they're known as yeti or abominable snowmen. And Russians call them Almasty. But in the scientific laboratory, these elusive, hairy, humanoid creatures are nothing more than bears, horses, and dogs. That's the conclusion of a new study—the first peer-reviewed, genetic survey of biological samples claimed to be from the shadowy beasts. To identify the evolutionary source of each sample, the team determined the sequence of a gene—found inside the mitochondria of cells—that encodes the 12S RNA, which is often used for species identification. Unlike standard DNA, mitochondrial genes are passed only from mother to offspring.
Seven of the samples didn’t yield enough DNA for identification. Of the 30 that were sequenced, all matched the exact 12S RNA sequences for known species, the team reports online today in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Ten hairs belonged to various bear species; four were from horses; four were from wolves or dogs; one was a perfect match to a human hair; and the others came from cows, raccoons, deer, and even a porcupine. Two samples, from India and Bhutan, matched polar bear 12S RNA—a surprising finding that Sykes is following up on to determine whether some Himalayan bears are hybrid species with polar bears.
Seven of the samples didn’t yield enough DNA for identification. Of the 30 that were sequenced, all matched the exact 12S RNA sequences for known species, the team reports online today in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Ten hairs belonged to various bear species; four were from horses; four were from wolves or dogs; one was a perfect match to a human hair; and the others came from cows, raccoons, deer, and even a porcupine. Two samples, from India and Bhutan, matched polar bear 12S RNA—a surprising finding that Sykes is following up on to determine whether some Himalayan bears are hybrid species with polar bears.
Clever! (Score:5, Funny)
That is what Sasquatch wants you to believe by placing DNA from other sources!!!!
Now excuse me, I see I need to go out and spay those nasty chemtrails again. ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com] )
Of course (Score:4, Funny)
The logical explanation is that Bigfoot has no mitochondria, and that the results obtained are from contamination. Scientists really shouldn't bring their pet polar bears to the lab.
So...Southpark was partially right... (Score:5, Funny)
It wasn't ManBearPig [wikipedia.org] it was ManBearHorseDog! Quickly someone let Al Gore know!
Re:Clever! (Score:5, Funny)
I am not up on my conspiracy lore, but it seems unlikely to me that chemtrails have genitals.
Re:Myths are socially hilarious (Score:5, Funny)
The last time a friend of mine talked about his vinyl collection, it was about his blow-up sex dolls.
Re:Clever! (Score:4, Funny)
"Two samples, from India and Bhutan, matched polar bear 12S RNA"
Obviously there was a Dharma Initiative station there at some time.