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First of all, let me tell you that, sometimes, the lack of fossil evidence means very little. But it's nevertheless a very useful tool to know what's the possibilities for a "mysterious creature" to exist and to explain what it is. Bigfoot (or Sasquatch) is a little oddity: this creature has no trace in the fossil record in the Americas. The biggest primate in the fossil record is Protopithecus brasiliensis, a very large spider monkey from late Pleistocene found in Brazil. Despite being about six feet tall, its extimated body weight was about fifty pounds, less than a tenth of Bigfoot's extimated body weight. Moreover, it was a tree-dweller (like today's spider monkeys) coming to ground occasionally and its feet were quite different from a man's or Bigfoot's. The celebrated Eoanthropus (man-of-the-dawn) from North America, has turned to be non-existant: its bones really belongs to an extinct tapir species. This is for America's known fossils. But other fossils from around the world have been considered. Grover Krantz suggested a species related to Gigantopithecus blacki, from South-East Asia. The most recent fossils date from about 500.000 years ago, its estimated weight was about 900-1200 pounds and its height 7-10 feet tall but we only have a few jaw fragments and isolated teeth. Since no weight-bearing bones have been found, its dimensions are only supposed, using humans and apes as models and it is well possible that the animal's teeth and jaws were disproportionate to its body size. Ivan Sanderson considered Giganthropus the best Bigfoot candidate. Gordon Strasenburgh suggested a surviving or evolved Parathropus robustus from South Africa. However, its body size was a little smaller than a modern human, and this makes it a poor Sasquatch candidate. Homo neanderthalensis and H. erectus have also been considered, but their body measures, well known through a wealth of findings, are a poor match for Bigfoot's massive figure. The usual Loren Coleman suggested a Meganthropus, a little known hominid genus described from two partial mandibles found in Java in the late '30s, but he is a late a comer as usual. Many anthropologists now consider Meganthropus an unusually oversized Homo erectus and, despite this, Meganthropus would still be too small to make a credible Bigfoot. The North American fossil record is quite poor: the first known primate there is Purgatorius, which lived about 66-64 million years ago. The last known one is Ekgmowechasala, which lived about 28 million years ago in what it's now Oregon. There are numerous species in between, but all were quite small: their average size was that of a woodchuck, with the biggest ones about the size of a tamarin or marmoset.
From Thread: Bigfoot and the fossil record
Posted by Kakugo, on December 14, 2004 at 08:52 GMTFirst of all, let me tell you that, sometimes, the lack of fossil evidence means very little. But it's nevertheless a very useful tool to know what's the possibilities for a "mysterious creature" to exist and to explain what it is. Bigfoot (or Sasquatch) is a little oddity: this creature has no trace in the fossil record in the Americas. The biggest primate in the fossil record is Protopithecus brasiliensis, a very large spider monkey from late Pleistocene found in Brazil. Despite being about six feet tall, its extimated body weight was about fifty pounds, less than a tenth of Bigfoot's extimated body weight. Moreover, it was a tree-dweller (like today's spider monkeys) coming to ground occasionally and its feet were quite different from a man's or Bigfoot's. The celebrated Eoanthropus (man-of-the-dawn) from North America, has turned to be non-existant: its bones really belongs to an extinct tapir species. This is for America's known fossils. But other fossils from around the world have been considered. Grover Krantz suggested a species related to Gigantopithecus blacki, from South-East Asia. The most recent fossils date from about 500.000 years ago, its estimated weight was about 900-1200 pounds and its height 7-10 feet tall but we only have a few jaw fragments and isolated teeth. Since no weight-bearing bones have been found, its dimensions are only supposed, using humans and apes as models and it is well possible that the animal's teeth and jaws were disproportionate to its body size. Ivan Sanderson considered Giganthropus the best Bigfoot candidate. Gordon Strasenburgh suggested a surviving or evolved Parathropus robustus from South Africa. However, its body size was a little smaller than a modern human, and this makes it a poor Sasquatch candidate. Homo neanderthalensis and H. erectus have also been considered, but their body measures, well known through a wealth of findings, are a poor match for Bigfoot's massive figure. The usual Loren Coleman suggested a Meganthropus, a little known hominid genus described from two partial mandibles found in Java in the late '30s, but he is a late a comer as usual. Many anthropologists now consider Meganthropus an unusually oversized Homo erectus and, despite this, Meganthropus would still be too small to make a credible Bigfoot. The North American fossil record is quite poor: the first known primate there is Purgatorius, which lived about 66-64 million years ago. The last known one is Ekgmowechasala, which lived about 28 million years ago in what it's now Oregon. There are numerous species in between, but all were quite small: their average size was that of a woodchuck, with the biggest ones about the size of a tamarin or marmoset.
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