Doubting Yeren
Posted by: Loren Coleman on December 13th, 2010
The following new article from the Chinese Global Times was clearly compiled by someone with few critical thinking skills. For a science writer to construct a basic argument against the possibility of the Yeren because he says that “no fossils of Bigfoot have been discovered,” ignores the obvious evidence for exactly the opposite conclusion.
Fossil candidates for the Yeren, Yeti, and Bigfoot/Sasquatch are throughout the fossil record. They include Gigantopithecus, Paranthropus, and Homo erectus, for starters.
Gigantopithecus mandible.
Gigantopithecus and Homo erectus
Paranthropus
Homo erectus
It is apparent that Fang Zhouzi and his editor are rather ignorant of the hominological and cryptozoological literature, and the associations that have been written about often between sightings of hairy unknown hominoids and the fossil record.
Strangely, also, Fang was attacked near his home in August 2010, and he and his wife appear to have related the mugging to his skeptical views. It all seems rather bizarre that such a link would be made. Not a single cryptozoologist nor even one Fortean has been documented to be going around physically attacking debunkers or skeptics.
According to the Global Times, here is what is being written about this Yeren debunker’s thoughts:
Well-known Chinese science writer Fang Zhouzi, who developed a reputation for exposing academic fraud, insisted that Wildman (Bigfoot) is a figment of people’s imagination even as an organization in Hubei Province prepares to hunt for the mysterious half-human, half-ape creature.
In an article titled “Wild Man in Shennongjia? How Come There Is Not a Tooth Left?” published on the Beijing-based China Youth Daily Wednesday, Fang said the chance of Bigfoot’s existence is next to zero and certain evidence associated with his existence are not “convincing.”
Fang’s assertions came two months after the Hubei Wild Man Research Association said that they would launch a 10-million-yuan ($1.5 million) campaign to search for the creature, although the project was postponed “indefinitely” due to a lack of financial support, Wang Shancai, head of the association, told the Global Times.
The Shennongjia Nature Reserve in Hubei has long been rumored to be home of the elusive Bigfoot. Wang said some hairs found there were more advanced than apes’ hair and they were tested by the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
It was reported that more than 400 people said they saw Bigfoot in the Shennongjia area in the last 100 years including villagers, reporters and explorers, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
However, Fang insisted that those evidence are scanty.
Fang argued that no fossils of Bigfoot have been discovered. “There is not a single tooth left, how do you expect people to believe it?” Fang said.
He said that by examining DNA extracted from the remaining cells in the root of hair, it is possible to determine the species of the hair. However, Fang said that since all the hairs discovered so far do not have roots, it is impossible to make such a conclusion.
“It’s absolutely not necessary to conduct such scientific research in the first place, which is a waste of time and money,” Fang told the Global Times. He said the expedition was a ploy to attract tourists.
In response to the accusation that Fang is not an expert, he said he studied biology and has a say on this matter.
Besides, if a tooth of a Yeren or Bigfoot was found today, it would not be a fossil!
About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct).
Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015.
Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.
I have been to Hubei to look for evidence of the Yeren, with Dr. Jeff Meldrum, and came to a different conclusion to that proffered here by this particular Chinese researcher. There is no doubt that the ecosystem could support such a creature. Further, we conducted several interviews with eyewitnesses, and most importantly, Jeff examined prints previously found by expert tracker Mr.Yuan, and came to the conclusion that they were from an “unknown primate”.
The Chinese researchers who I met were a dedicated bunch, who conducted their research not out of commercial motivations, but simply because they believed the creature exists, and they were looking for scientific vindication to back their assertions up. It’s not proved, but legends of the wildman in China go back centuries. Do not be surprised if they get results.
Typical.
He says he’s a scientist, and comes to a conclusion no scientist could come to based on the evidence.
“Not convincing” (i.e., not proof) and “bunkum” mean very different things. A scientist should know that.
Yet here’s another one, with the same old tired line: no proof = no evidence.
“Fang said the chance of Bigfoot’s existence is next to zero …”
A scientist would know that he needs to back any assertion like that up. With evidence.
[sigh]