Genetic analysis of hair samples attributed to yeti, bigfoot and other anomalous primates

2014/07/02 by Bryan Sykes, Rhettman A. Mullis, Christophe Hagenmuller +2 · 3 citations
Psychology · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Environmental Science · #Primate Behavior and Ecology #Yersinia bacterium, plague, ectoparasites research #Wildlife Ecology and Conservation

paper · pdf · doi:10.1098/rspb.2014.0161

openalex publication_date 2014/07/02 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

In the first ever systematic genetic survey, we have used rigorous decontamination followed by mitochondrial 12S RNA sequencing to identify the species origin of 30 hair samples attributed to anomalous primates. Two Himalayan samples, one from Ladakh, India, the other from Bhutan, had their closest genetic affinity with a Palaeolithic polar bear, Ursus maritimus. Otherwise the hairs were from a range of known extant mammals.

Citations

• The Budget Can Be a Management Tool.
• A new small-bodied hominin from the Late Pleistocene of Flores, Indonesia

Cited by

• Evolutionary history of enigmatic bears in the Tibetan Plateau–Himalaya region and the identity of the yeti
• Almas (folklore) [wikipedia]
• Bigfoot [wikipedia]