Creatures, Myths & Legends

Dozens of Yeti hair samples DNA tested

By T.K. Randall
July 2, 2014 ·  182 comments

Could there still be an undiscovered primate roaming the mountains ? Image Credit: CC BY-SA 2.0 Dirk Hartung Oxford geneticist Bryan Sykes made headlines last year when he tested strands of alleged Yeti hairs recovered from the Himalayas and discovered that they seemed to belong to an extinct species of polar bear that lived 40,000 years ago.

Since then he has tested dozens more samples of hair thought to have originated from the cryptozoological biped as part of an ongoing project to try and solve the mystery once and for all.

His findings, which were published this week, indicate that almost all of the samples had come from cows, bears, porcupines, horses and an assortment of other mundane species. Despite this however Sykes is adamant that his research does not mean that Bigfoot can't still exist."I don't think this finishes the Bigfoot myth at all," he told NBC News. "What it does do is show that there is a way for Bigfoot enthusiasts to go back out into the forest and get the real thing."

The geneticist is now organizing an expedition to the Himalayas next year to seek out live specimens of the elusive polar bear species that his DNA testing had helped to identify.

"That's the next logical step," he said. "We need a live 'Yeti.'"

Source: NBC News | Comments (182)

Tags: Bigfoot, Yeti