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Hello Norseman, Yep, and with the safety on too it would appear. It always seems we get this close (holds index finger 1/64th of an inch from thumb)......and something happens. Maybe the tooth remnant will be returned or otherwise located at the Museum. It might be the best scenario to hope for at this point. DANG! OR....the Curator at the Museum starts working with the Archeological Society and they get out there and do some digging in Shark's Tooth Hill Yep, that's me, Mr. Positive.

Hello Rockape, Aw shucks, 'twern't nuthin'. But I appreciate very much the support. This could've been a contender yes? At least it was an interesting lead. I also have a sense that it ain't over yet either.

Hello JiggyPotamus, Many of your points are well taken. I received a follow up email from the Curator of the Capitola History Museum yesterday which I answered in return. His email is as follows: "Dear XXXXXX, I don't see any information on where the tooth came from. Is it supposed to be local? The preservation looks like some of the fossil teeth from the Santa Margarita Formation in the Scotts Valley area, which is middle Miocene. The tooth is badly worn, and there is only half of it. I would need a better specimen to determine what kind of mammal it is from. Also, knowing where it is from would help limit the possibilities. There have been many thousands of mammal species through geologic history. The shape of a tooth also depends on the age of the animal, the amount of wear, and the location in the mouth. Sincerely, Frank Perry" I responded with as much information that I had (which wasn't/isn't that much) along with the phone number of the Bigfoot Discovery Museum is case he wished to talk to Mike Rugg direct. I also informed him that the tooth remnant is now missing and believed stolen about two weeks ago. I don't think I can take this much further and am still waiting on a response from Dr. Disotell which, now that the remaining sample at the Museum is now gone seems rather moot. If I receive a positive reply from him though maybe he can end up with Dr. Brian Sykes' only remaing sample somehow in the near future?

This post needs to be quoted every time anyone tries to zombie the Skookum elk lay cast. It could not be more painfully obvious. That it is not dead and people still cling to it says much more about Bigfootery than anything about Bigfoot. The original site... I don't buy for a second that Meldrum does know that it's an elk lay.

Hello bipedalist, Yes, and there has certainly bee a lot of locking the barn after the horses have left over the decades and yet people still trust others. I respect Mr. Rugg for his obvious trusting nature and he sets a good example however in retrospect he may be wishing he had done things differently; especially in the area of important physical evidence even if it was found to not be from a NA primate.

Hello Norseman, Yes, perhaps it should've been. When I spoke to him he said that it wasn't but it was kept under the counter in a container toward the back of the shelf. Whoever absconded with had to know what is was and where it was kept? He didn't say if anything else was missing from there and I didn't think to ask. He was certainly candid enough to mention of other articles were found to be missing as well. BTW anyone who wishes to call and talk to him I'm sure he would welcome the contact and would discuss the subject as long as he understood who you were and how you knew of the incident. He said he was a member here in times past but didn't remember his password info. Maybe he'll show up here if he does a password recovery effort. It of course requires an email address which I'm sure he has but which I had forgotten to ask him for. I'm still waiting for email replies from the Capitola History Museum curator as well as Dr. Todd Disotell.

Hello All, I have an update that is rather important. I spoke to Mike Rugg today and I can tell you he was simply great to talk to. Personable and very candid in relating some additional details regarding the fossil tooth. We talked about his experiences with both Dr. Ketchum and Dr. Sykes. It's quite a story in and of itself. I called him to inform him of my activities in contacting the Archeological Society as well as my contact with the Museum Curator along with my email to Todd Disotell. But a lot of what we talked about was overshadowed when he informed that the remainder of the tooth that he held at the Bigfoot Discovery Museum went missing 10 days ago and is now thought to have been stolen from the Museum. I asked Mr. Ruggs if it would be OK with him if I posted the bad news on this Forum and he agreed that it would be a good thing to do for several reasons: 1) To get the word out for it's return no questions asked 2) To perhaps allow Dr. Brian Sykes to realize the importance of the piece that he currently has in his possession. Also I was told tht Dr. Jeffery Meldrum had requested from Dr. Sykes for it's return to Mr. Rugg . Dr. Sykes replied that he wanted to hear from Mike Rugg himself which he subsequently did and told Mike that he would return the partial sample to him. Mr. Rugg is still waiting for the return of the tooth section. As you can see, without the remainder of the tooth which was stolen from the Museum there is nothing other than Dr. Sykes' sample left to examine. The return or location of this piece of fossilized tooth is very important. Just so whoever has it knows it. There is a chain of custody involved here so there is no way anyone can bring this artifact into the public eye without someone asking questions. The best course of action would be to return it or call Mike Ruggs at the Museum at 1-831-335-4478 to arrange for it's return- anonymously or otherwise. Please seriously consider this request.Thank you

Hello All, I decided to do a measurement test for myself on the width of the tooth's crown as it appears next to the penny in the second frame of the images in post #14. I know what you're thinking "Sure, but the penny isn't to true scale". I used the zoom option to reduce the image so that the penny was as close to one that I actually measured. The "real" penny measures very close to 3/4 of an inch across. I was able to get the one in the image to nearly exactly match that size. Then I scaled the tooth. It measured 19/32nds of an inch. Which is 1/32 smaller than 5/8ths of an inch across the top of the crown area. Folks, that's a big tooth. The Human molar varies of course but the largest measurement I've seen so far is a little more than 11 millimeters which is just over 3/8ths of an inch. To have this fossil tooth measure almost 1/4 inch bigger is what makes it interesting. In the video posted by chelefoot of Mike Rugg's interview he said 6 different dentists who had visited the Museum and looked at it said that it looked Human- but bigger. I can now understand better why at least they all said it was bigger. The Human part remains to be seen. Mr. Rugg also gave a bit more detail on how the tooth was found. I can't help but think the rest of what the tooth came from might just still be buried in the sand above the spot where the tooth was discovered. Open this subject up might help in getting some real interest for mounting a search for the source. I can only hope right? @WSA, I see we posted at the same time Hope you find what I wrote a little more realistic this time around

Hello Norseman, Mike Rugg lists a phone number which I will call. I've not seen an email address either for him or the Museum. I'll make that call today. And thanks for the compliment/encouragement

Hello WSA, Lots of good speculating involving possibilities for an era we are continually learning about. My question to you and any other member of the Forum would be were you or anyone else aware of this tooth at the Bigfoot Discovery Museum before this thread? It appears that least Bart Cutino and several other investigators may have been aware of it. The "Finding Bigfoot" gang was aware of it which means Matt Moneymaker, Bobo and others. The other TV group with Dr. Todd Disotell I don't know about but I did send an email to Dr. Disotell inquiring of his awareness of the artifact and whether or not he might be interested in running DNA on a piece of pulp since Dr. Sykes refused because he only does hair and apparently Dr. Ketchum has dropped the ball. I'm also curious if I'm the only one that seriously am interested in this enough to pursue these avenues with the different organizations in Santa Cruz as well as Dr. Disotell. It may indeed be a camel's tooth which seems more likely but getting a definitive professional look at this find to me would be somewhat critical since it has been suggested that it is a Bigfoot tooth. Again, rule it in. or rule it out. Only an professional in DNA or a paleo-forensic tooth expert could possibly provide the answer. If it's already been determined what creature this belongs to I am not aware of it. In other words the existence of this fossilized tooth isn't speculative. Only what it belongs to up to this point is.

Hello All, I did get a response from the Santa Cruz Archeological Society. A person by the name of Peter Von der Porten who stated he was not aware of the tooth's discovery. He evidently forwarded my inquiry to either a friend or colleague named Rob Edwards who suggested I contact the curator of the Capitola History Museum, a Mr. Frank Perry, which I did. Mr. Perry is regarded as the expert in the Santa Cruz, CA area on fossil remains. Mr. Perry also was not aware of the find and requested that I send photos of the tooth. I sent the same images that appear on this thread and am waiting for any responses. I also sent the images to my first contact, Peter Von der Porten to have and show to his associates at the Archeological Society and any student groups or volunteers that they may have out-reaches to. The thing is this, these people know people who may know people willing to go and professionally look at this artifact even if only out of respect for the Society itself, or for the curator of the Capitola Museum hmself. So, now we wait....

Hello Hairy Man, Lots of mega fauna around until 11,000 years ago. Someone in Paleo REALLY should have a look at this, eh?