While the idea of what Bigfoot looks like do not vary so widely as the blind men''s individual conclusions on the appearance of the elephant, the thoughts about what our furry friend actually IS , often do. Assuming, of course, that it exists at all. Some people believe that Bigfoot (Bigfeet? Dammit.) are extraterrestrials. It''s a theory that''s gained traction in the last decade or so, especially as reports of encounters with floating orange orbs have come in from Bigfoot hunters, in areas associated with the creature. As floating lights are often associated with UFOs, it''s not an enormous leap to make. Some people believe the orbs serve as some of portal or interdimensional transportation beam. This would very conveniently explain away the conspicuous absence of physical evidence that most skeptics point out.

Others believe that Bigfoot are entirely supernatural beings, and/or shape shifters, with psychic and magical abilities. Or they claim that the creatures are similar to demons. In 2022, an Oklahoma man claimed that he killed his friend because he believed the friend had summoned Bigfoot and that he was going to be sacrificed to the creature. Even among the often-colorful community of Bigfoot researchers, these theories remain on the fringe. Two less exotic, and more scientifically plausible, ideas dominate the narrative. Most people believe that Bigfoot, or Sasquatch, are either an as-yet "officially" undiscovered species of ape or a distinct species of human; a long-lost "cousin" of Home sapiens. First, let''s touch on the undiscovered ape theory. Some speculate that Bigfoot is a descendant, or even a remaining population, of the largest ape known to have ever existed on earth, Gigantopithecus blacki .

This cousin of the modern orangutan was twice the size of the largest modern apes. G. blacki lived in southern China, appearing about 2 million years ago. Until recently, it was believed that the species went extinct around 100,000 years ago, due to changes in habitat. Recent research by paleoanthropologists at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, push that date to 200,000 to 300,000 years ago. As fossil records of G. blacki are very limited, estimates of its size vary, ranging from 9 to 12 feet in height and weighing as much as 660 lbs. Originally, it was hypothesized that there was a direct line from Gigantopithecus to the Javan ape Meganthropus (then believed to be a human ancestor), and eventually to Aboriginal Australians.

As science learned more about human origins, it was concluded that any shared ancestor between modern humans and G. blacki was very distant (12 to 15 million years ago) and that, while humans fall into the subfamily of Homininae (along with gorillas), Gigantopithecus is a member of the Ponginae subfamily (whose only nonextinct member is the orangutans). In 1960, zoologist Wladimir Tschemezky, describing a photograph of alleged Yeti tracks in the journal Nature , concluded that the creature making the footprints walked like a human and was like Gigantopithecus . This was around the same time that Andrew Genzoli was coining the name, Bigfoot. Subsequently, there was a burst in scientific attention given to both the Yeti, in Nepal, and Bigfoot, the U.S. Several authors published in Nature and Science, but the interest was short-lived in the broader scientific community. This was, however, the impetus for the popular monster hunting community that developed around the creatures.

The idea that populations of G. blacki survived to present day was quickly dismissed by most, but anthropologist Grover Krantz continued pushing for a connection between the extinct, giant ape and Bigfoot until his death in 2002. Could a small group of G. blacki somehow survived to present day? Or could the Sasquatch be a descendant of this greatest of apes, a cousin of the orangutan? Afterall, the first scientific description of orangutans was less than 300 years ago. It might seem ridiculous to think, given human expansion and exploration of the world, that there would be a large primate wandering the wilds without us being aware of it. Yet the bonobo, historically known as the pygmy chimpanzee, wasn''t discovered until 1929. And as recently as 2017, a distinct species of orangutan was identified in Sumatra. Would it be so farfetched to believe that a large, fairly intelligent species of great ape may exist in small pockets of largely undisturbed wilderness? Okay, okay.

I can hear it already. It''s one thing to discover a species that is just a variation of a species we''re already aware of; something that a casual observer might not be able to differentiate from a known species. It''s another thing, altogether, for something as unique as a Sasquatch to avoid detection. But it''s not unheard of. The Norse "kraken," and the giant squid featured in Jules Verne''s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea , were thought to be mythical beasts, known only by rumor and scant evidence, until 2012. In 2023, a mammal called the long-beaked echidna, thought to be extinct, was rediscovered in the mountains of Indonesia. It has the spines of a hedgehog, the snout of an anteater, and the feet of a mole, but the weird creature managed to escape observation for hundreds of years. There are many more examples, but the point is that we are still discovering (or re-discovering) species we thought either never existed or that we "knew" to be extinct for, in some cases, thousands of years.

The discovery of a new species of bear or ape might be exciting but, as we''ve just discussed, that kind of thing happens with surprising regularity. It''s currently estimated that there are anywhere from 10 million to 100 million undiscovered species on earth. A study conducted by Boris Worm, of Dalhousie University in Canada, estimates that 85-90% of species on Earth remain undiscovered. Now, granted, many those are microbes and insects (and probably, ironically, worms). And a significant portion are presumed to exist in the deep biosphere, beneath the earth''s crust. It''s further suspected that, given the very minimal amount of ocean exploration we''ve managed, some 91% of ocean dwelling species remain unknown to us. Still, there are places like the Amazon rainforest that provides a vast, unexplored area where thousands, perhaps millions, of undiscovered animals are suspected to live. According to National Geographic, there are so many undiscovered species in the Brazilian rainforest that scientists in 2017 were discovering a new Amazonian species every other day.

Let''s not forget the vast, frozen landscapes at the poles and high elevations that have, thus far, proved too inhospitable for intense exploration. Prime location for a Yeti population. And since we''ve circled back to our hairy hominid, let''s be honest with each other. It seems safe to say that most Bigfoot hunters and Sasquatch researchers believe these creatures are more than just another animal that is exceptionally elusive. Most people believe Bigfoot is more human than ape. This might lead some to believe that their existence is even more unlikely. Just as it seems less likely that a very distinct species of large animal exists beyond our knowledge than, say, a variation of known animal that had developed in isolation so much as to be distinct at a molecular level but perhaps not so different in appearance, it would seem a further stretch to believe that that "animal" is more human than bear or ape. Or is it? The differences in genome (the genetic information of an organism) that make a species unique from another is rather miniscule.

The previously mentioned bonobo is only genetically different than a chimpanzee by about 0.3%. And we modern day humans are less than 2% different from either of them. It would be a very minor difference in genetic development that would result in a larger, hairier version of ourselves. High above the Anuy River in Siberia lies the Denisovan cave. The New York Times , on August 22, 2018, reported the work of Carl Zimmer, who discovered in the cave the remains of a 90,000-year-old female who was unquestionably the daughter of a Neanderthal mother and a Denisovan father. The cave has a history of sheltering humans and other species for 120,000 years. It now appears certain to have attracted humans of differing species who apparently had no problem getting to know one another on a personal level.

Research conducted by Svante Paabo, a renowned geneticist at the prestigious Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, has confirmed the result. Denisovan DNA has now been found all over the world, including in many Native American Indian tribes. They were a large species of early human ancestors. Anthropologists call them "robust." Individuals of eight and nine feet or more were not uncommon. Given the amount of DNA evidence, they left behind in the genomes of modern human population groups found everywhere from Siberia, to Asia, Australia, and North America, they got around, and were usually made to feel very welcome. Judging from the beautiful jewelry they made, they were intelligent, and they were very, very old on the land. Neanderthals seem to have disappeared from the fossil record about 40,000 years ago, just when the explosion of art in the caves of western Europe burst on the scene.

Denisovans were thought to go extinct about that time as well. But their culture had been around for many thousands of years by then. Did they, like the Neanderthals, blend into modern human populations by the simple act of assimilation? In other words, did they become us? DNA evidence indic.