title: Genetic analysis of hair samples attributed to yeti, bigfoot and other anomalous primates.
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.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Human Genetics, Wolfson College, University of Oxford, Oxford OX2 6UD, UK bryan.sykes@wolfsonox.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Bryan C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Sykes
authors.affiliation: PO Box 40143, Bellevue, WA 98005, USA.
authors.forename: Rhettman A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Mullis
authors.affiliation: NaturAlpes, Annecy-Le-Vieux 74940, France.
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hagenmuller
authors.affiliation: Mitotyping Technologies, 2565 Park Center Boulevard, State College, PA 16801, USA.
authors.forename: Terry W
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Melton
authors.affiliation: Museum of Zoology, Palais de Rumine, Lausanne 1014, Switzerland Museum of Zoology and Grindel Biocentre, Hamburg 20146, Germany.
authors.forename: Michel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sartori
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001631:Bhutan; D005580:Fossils; D005820:Genetic Testing; D006197:Hair / Q000502:physiology*; D007194:India; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011323:Primates / Q000235:genetics*; D012313:RNA; D000077278:RNA, Mitochondrial; D012335:RNA, Ribosomal; D001503:Ursidae / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D000077278:RNA, Mitochondrial; D012335:RNA, Ribosomal; C075526:RNA, ribosomal, 12S; D012313:RNA
keywords: almasty; bigfoot; mitochondrial DNA; sasquatch; yeti