The Sykes / Sartori Report - Oxford-Lausanne Collateral Hominid Project

[Guest OntarioSquatch]

^That turned out to be a type of bear. I read the comments and it didn't seem like anyone bothered to read the entire blog post.

[Guest]

t didn't seem like anyone bothered to read the entire blog post.

Including you. The skin turned out to be a bear; I don't think it was an unknown species of bear, but one not that had its DNA catalogued (Himalayan black bear?). The hair could not be identified — not bear, not human, nor any other known primate. Sykes said it was the first time his lab had failed to identify a sample as to species.

[Guest OntarioSquatch]

The hair sample that is featured on the blog right now was eventually identified as a new Himalayan bear. It's old news, but as usual the blog isn't presenting it in an honest manner.

Edited January 30, 2013 by OntarioSquatch

[Guest]

I found this on Wikipedia:

"A well publicized expedition to Bhutan reported that a hair sample had been obtained which by DNA analysis by Professor Bryan Sykes could not be matched to any known animal. Analysis completed after the media release, however, clearly showed the samples were from a Brown bear (Ursus arctos) and an Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus)."

This is confusing in that the first sentence mentions a single hair sample, while the second sentence refers to at least two samples (skin and hair?). I would be shocked to learn that U. arctos (a.k.a. grizzly bear, Kodiak bear, brown bear) had not had its DNA catalogued at the time. U. thibetarius is not a newly discovered species, but I assume its DNA had not been previously analyzed.

The source for the confusing paragraph is an unpublished doctoral thesis from Oxford.

If this is true, the blog is indeed misrepresenting Sykes's work, and it is doubtful that this effort sparked the initiative for his current study. A more likely catalyst, if a Ketchum paper does exist, is that he reviewed the paper, or heard about it from a reviewing colleague. Perhaps Ketchum's work had promise, but was completely beyond her capability to interpret or explain. That could explain 30+ months of purported peer review.

[Guest]

It appears that the DNA results from the Skyes Yeti study have been revealed. I'd like to wait to read the actual study though.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4776098/Yeti-which-has-terrorised-Russians-for-3yrs-is-really-a-bear-from-the-US.html

[Guest OntarioSquatch]

But remember that's not the result of the North American samples that are in this study: https://www.wolfson.ox.ac.uk/academic/GBFs-v/OLCHP

[Guest]

It appears that the DNA results from the Skyes Yeti study have been revealed.

A North American black bear wandering around Russia? A yeti might have been easier to accept.

[Cotter]

Ptero - That is indeed weird. You'd think someone would have been able to snap a photo of it by now as well.

Edit - Also, how 'long' does a NA black bear hair get?

[southernyahoo]

Black bear hair reportedly only reaches about 4 inches in length.

[Guest]

A North American black bear wandering around Russia? A yeti might have been easier to accept.

"An explanation could be an animal escaped from a circus, zoo or private collection, but it is extraordinary"

Ptero - That is indeed weird. You'd think someone would have been able to snap a photo of it by now as well.

You'd also think they'd snap a photo of a yeti by now.

[Cotter]

^Jerry - What I find interesting is that a bear, that has been in captivity, been acclimated to humans, and fed regularly, not only escapes, but thrives in the wild. Not only that, but said bear, that has been captive, fed, and acclimated hadn't presented itself for a photo op in 3 years of terrorizing a community.

Ever see what folks do to get an animal ready for the wild that been in captivity? It's a pretty drawn out process.

If we had speculation that a Yeti had escaped from a personal collector, I would suspect a photo op would present itself eventually as well.

Edited February 5, 2013 by Cotter

[Ronnie Bass]

Sharon Hill of the I Doubt It blog rips apart the media coverage on Sykes DNA studies. seems they are more interested in sensationalism than real facts:

The “evidence†coming out of Russia has been pathetic. The fact that these hairs weren’t anything unusual is hardly surprising when the evidence so far has consisted of dubious field trips, broken trees and really awful and obviously faked photos and videos. The line of truly terrible stories about hominins out of Siberia is so appalling these days that I can’t take any of it seriously. When some of your biggest names consider the creature as a supernatural entity, the credibility is shot.

So why portray the TRUTH as being a downer?! Would you rather a happy lie? I get being disappointed about the results (especially since the Sun was hoping for an exclusive) but there was NO reason to get hopes up in the first place. As typical, the media warps the story giving the public a false view about what is going on and how inquiry should work.

http://doubtfulnews.com/2013/02/grrr-media-ur-doing-it-wrong-yeti-dna-is-bear/

She even gets a response from Sykes about the matter.

[Cotter]

I wonder where the Sun got american black bear hair. Doesn't sound like there was much info as to how the samples were acquired.

[WSA]

I find Sykes' choice of words in his reply very significant:

"I am not in the least surprised, or indeed upset, to be referred to as a “killjoy scientistâ€. After all, only the kind of rigorous testing that DNA provides will confirm to everyone’s satisfaction that these cryptids really exist.

He refers to his currently ongoing project collecting and studying DNA as “an experiment in the philosophy and methodology of science where nothing is accepted, or indeed rejected, without examination (and publication) of the evidence.â€

Not, "might" confirm, not "will confirm or refute", but "will confirm." At this stage, I would imagine he already has some preliminary resutls. His choice of words sends a very strong signal to me.

[Guest Silent Sam]

"An explanation could be an animal escaped from a circus, zoo or private collection, but it is extraordinary"

I can think of another way the hair could have gotten there.