WEBVTT - Are Yeti Just a Bunch of Bears?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works. Hey, brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>I'm Lauren vogel Bomb, and you know everybody loves a

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<v Speaker 1>good cryptid. If the classic creatures of legend and hearsay, well,

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<v Speaker 1>the Locknus monster, for example, or sasquatch are too campy

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<v Speaker 1>for your tastes, perhaps your interest would be piqued by

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<v Speaker 1>the groot slang a giant snake with an elephant's head

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<v Speaker 1>said to hang out in caves of northwestern South Africa,

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<v Speaker 1>or the Yahwi, basically the big foot of the Australian outback,

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<v Speaker 1>or the Mapingaree, a giant sloth like ape reportedly lurking

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<v Speaker 1>in the Amazon rainforest on the border between Brazil and Bolivia.

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<v Speaker 1>If your game to dive into the waters of cryptozoology,

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<v Speaker 1>you'll be there, awhile because they are fathomless. Science, however,

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<v Speaker 1>will rarely dive in there with you, but it has

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<v Speaker 1>on occasion made an exception for the yetty. If you

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<v Speaker 1>were to ask, hey, are the Yetti just a bunch

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<v Speaker 1>of bears, genetics would say yes. The Yetti, or the

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<v Speaker 1>great white abominable snowman of the Himalayas, is one of

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<v Speaker 1>the world's most beloved cryptids. It's a major figure in

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<v Speaker 1>the folklore of Nepal, and hikers are constantly reporting to

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<v Speaker 1>have seen a giant, white, ape like creature stalking around

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<v Speaker 1>the mountains. Some even claim to have brought home a

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<v Speaker 1>piece of one of these beasts, a tuft of hair,

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<v Speaker 1>a bone, some skin, a tooth, or some abominable dung.

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<v Speaker 1>These Yetty souvenirs have made their way into museums and

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<v Speaker 1>private collections over the years, and now nine of them

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<v Speaker 1>formed the basis for a study investigating the reality behind

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<v Speaker 1>the folk tales. The study, published in the Proceedings of

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<v Speaker 1>the Royal Society b finds that of the alleged yetty

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<v Speaker 1>bits genetically sequenced by the international team of researchers, all

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<v Speaker 1>revealed themselves to be of very commonplace origin, eight bears

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<v Speaker 1>and a dog. There was diversity in the species of bears.

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<v Speaker 1>One Asian black bear was represented, one Himalayan brown bear,

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<v Speaker 1>and six Tibetan brown bears. The researchers suggest that similar

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<v Speaker 1>genetic studies should be able to help unravel other cryptid legends.

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<v Speaker 1>Where previous genetic studies of possible cryptids looked only at

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<v Speaker 1>mitochondrial DNA, this research team gave those cave bones and

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<v Speaker 1>wads of hair. The full works applied PCR amplification, mitochondrial sequencing,

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<v Speaker 1>mitochondrial genome assembly, and phylogenetic analysis. According to the researchers,

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<v Speaker 1>this makes it the most rigorous analysis of anomalous or

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<v Speaker 1>mythical hominid like creatures to date. The team also sequenced

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<v Speaker 1>mitochondrial DNA of twenty three Asian bears and compared them

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<v Speaker 1>with bears around the world. They found the Tibetan brown

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<v Speaker 1>bear to be more closely related to American bears than

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<v Speaker 1>they are to their neighbors, the Himalayan bear. In fact,

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<v Speaker 1>the two species probably split along two separate evolutionary lineages

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<v Speaker 1>around six hundred and fifty thousand years ago during a

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<v Speaker 1>major ice age. And just in case you were wondering,

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<v Speaker 1>who compiled the bear parts that the team used for

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<v Speaker 1>their research, they were assembled by a Animal Planet team

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<v Speaker 1>for a special titled Yetti or Nut, which explored the

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<v Speaker 1>myths behind the monster. Today's episode was written by Jesplyin

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<v Speaker 1>Shields and produced by Tyler Claang. For more on this

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<v Speaker 1>and lots of other mythic topics, visit our home planet,

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<v Speaker 1>how Stuff Works dot com.