Unknown Fur/hide For Identification. Probably Nothing...

[Guest BFSleuth]

Here's a sample of grizzly bear hide and hair for comparison.

[Guest]

looks like a real possibility to me, although im hoping its the real thing.

[Guest]

oh and thanks BFSleuth for the pic

[southernyahoo]

I have one specimen of that hair mounted on a slide. The hair from a black BF will no doubt show that it nearly matches either the hair of a Mongoloid (Asian) or Negroid (African) Some of the black hairs are very difficult - and at times impossible - to evaluate under an optical microscope, and have been discounted as having been from a BF.

P.S. - There is a forensic lab that has an "Animal Hair Atlas" on a CD which they sell. Anyone interested can send me a PM and I will provide further info.

Ditto on the black hairs. I don't know about the Grizzly bears, but the black bear medulla does have a distinguishing uniserial ladder structure that is sometimes obscured by cortical pigmentation. This is something I couldn't find in my particular sample.

[Branco]

I don't usually have any trouble with black bear hair, but I (and others) have collected black hair that would not show the medulla on the first try. After wasting a lot of time and and a lot very dark hair specimens, I developed a liquid mix and method which would allow me to see the medulla, although the procedure destroys the cuticle's scale pattern. Some of those black hairs did not match of any typical native, or commonly imported, wildlife or pets.

[indiefoot]

I have found the comparison photos on this site helpful.

http://www.iamaweb.com/Animal_Hair/animal_hair_images.html

[Guest]

That bear looks close. It has been awhile since I felt bear. Is the texture feel like human hair? I remember black bear being more coarse...

[Guest]

It looks like monkey fur, it was popular in the 1920's- 60's in the U.S. and Canada to make coats and rugs. They used Colobus monkey's raised here to provide the fur supply. Scroll down to the bottom of the page for the link to this taxidermy site and you will see one that looks similar. I doubt it's a bigfoot hide.

http://www.taxidermyemporium.co.uk/3.html.

[Guest]

Here is a good example of primate hair. This should also give you a good idea how big it would have to be to get a 5x4 sheet of body hide. I worked on this hide for a month and it had unique qualities that are very similar to the rug leather.

[Guest poignant]

Any updates? Just curious.

[Guest Transformer]

I would suggest quit fooling around with trying to identify what you got by comparing what the hair looks like to other hair because even the FBI stats show that they have an error rate of about 12.5% when matching human hairs. DNA or bust.

[Guest BFSleuth]

Hair comparison analysis is a first step. It is also a required first step for anyone wanting to submitting hair samples to the Sykes / Sartori DNA study. If hair analysis comes up as a known animal then there would be no reason to go the next step for DNA analysis and he can skip that expense.

[southernyahoo]

I would suggest quit fooling around with trying to identify what you got by comparing what the hair looks like to other hair because even the FBI stats show that they have an error rate of about 12.5% when matching human hairs. DNA or bust.

Matching a human hair to some other human is not the same as simply identifying the species the hair comes from. Knowing what species isn't that tough for the right examiner. I prefer using several examiners to see what they come up with in a blind test. If you get "we don't know" from all of them then it's time to get the DNA.

[Guest Figboot]

Certainly an unusual hide, looks a bit musk oxen to me, but with the tricolour of some species of dog - collie and yorkshire terrier. No under coat though so can't wait for the result!

Edited June 27, 2012 by Figboot

[Guest poignant]

Thought: if it turns out to be 'human', wouldn't that be a rather macabre find which might be taken away as evidence of a crime / abuse of human remains?