There was cow, black bear, dog, human, and even Malaysian tapir DNA among the samples, but no Bigfoot, according to a genetic analysis of purported Sasquatch hairs.
Back in 2012, researchers at Oxford University and the Lausanne Museum of Zoology in Switzerland asked the Bigfoot community to send in samples from the elusive creature for DNA analysis. Oxford's Bryan Sykes said at the time that he didn't think the samples would include any tidbits from Sasquatch, but that they might yield an as-yet-unknown species.
In the Proceedings of the Royal Society B this week, Sykes and his colleagues report on their analysis of the 57 samples they received after their plea. After discounting samples that were plant or glass fiber in origin, the researchers PCR-amplified the ribosomal mitochondrial DNA 12S fragment and compared the sequenced against what was housed in GenBank.
They matched all 30 samples from which DNA could be obtained to known species, most of them domesticated animals.
"The fact that none of these samples turned out to be [a Yeti] doesn't mean the next one won't," Sykes tells the Associated Press.
New York University's Todd Disotell notes that DNA evidence wouldn't be enough. "I would want visual or physical proof, like a body part, on top of the DNA evidence," he adds.
Last year, a separate genetic analysis of purported Bigfoot samples collected by a Texas team found those hairs to have come from opossum and other species.