Doin' IT with Neanderthals

Modern man and Neanderthals had sex across the species barrier, according to leading geneticist Professor Svante Paabo. Humans and Neanderthals lived amongst each other for over 10,000 yrs. Thats twice the timespan of the Egyptian empire (3400 yrs) and Roman empire (2200 yrs) put together! We know through research both species had the technology to make alcoholic beverages and we know through drinking these beverages, it takes less than 10,000 years for beer goggles to take effect.

There is a great article in the Daily Telegraph tying to prove...

...his theory by examining Neanderthal fossils for traces of modern man's DNA. But if Neanderthal DNA existed in modern man's genes, he believes it will have been diluted below detectable levels.

Professor Paabo, who is director of genetics at the renowned Max Planck Institution for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, made the claim at a conference in the Cold Springs Laboratory in New York.
But Prof Paabo said he was unclear if the couplings had led to children, of if they were capable of producing offspring.

In recent years, fossils with both Neanderthal and modern human features have been found suggesting the two species interbred but previous scans of Neanderthal genes reveal Neanderthal DNA to have a very different make-up to modern man's.
Neanderthals were primitive beings that lived alongside modern man 30,000 years ago. Prof Paabo is seeking to prove his theory by examining Neanderthal fossils for traces of modern man's DNA. But if Neanderthal DNA existed in modern man's genes, he believes it will have been diluted below detectable levels.

Read the original article here
Read our other posts re: Neanderthals
Neanderthals Sequenced
Did Humans Make Love or War with Cavemen

Abominible Snowman (Yeti) on MonsterQuest

The History Channel is doubling down on Bigfoot in the snow. For those not in the know MonsterQuest is a series on the History Channel Self described as:

MonsterQuest uses the latest high-tech equipment to take a scientific look at legendary creatures around the world, creatures eyewitnesses claim to see to this day. Each episode will examine all the evidence available, from pictures and video to hair and bones, as well as the eyewitness accounts themselves. Believers, skeptics and scientists will weigh in, but what will the evidence reveal?

This Sunday they will be broadcasting two episodes back to back. Below is an update from their Full Schedule

MonsterQuest : Abominable Snowman
Airs on Sunday October 25 09:00 PM
The Abominable Snowman is among the most frightening and notorious monsters in history. This ferocious nocturnal creature is said to attack people and slaughter their animals. Witnesses report sightings of a strange, hair-covered beast and claim to have heard blood-curdling screams. Evidence amassed over the last century may point to a startling conclusion: that something real and unknown stalks the desolate mountains of the Far East. Scientists and experts will examine the clues while the MonsterQuest team will undertake their most dangerous expedition to date with an epic ascent onto the snowy peaks where recent evidence of the beast was found.

MonsterQuest : Snowbeast Slaughter
Airs on Sunday October 25 11:00 PM
High in the rugged wilderness of Colorado's Rocky Mountains a large hairy creature is said to be preying on the elk and frightening residents. The stories date back centuries with the earliest settlers describing terrifying encounters with a large beast whose scream bellows across the hills. Even today ranchers and hikers report a monster they can't explain that may be attacking their horses. MonsterQuest will sift through the evidence and determine what may be killing the elk. The aerial search ascends to 11,000 ft in search of fresh evidence that could lead to the creature; as the ground team scales the side of Pikes Peak to hunt for the legendary Snowbeast.


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The Monkey Man of New Delhi: India's Bigfoot

WELCOME VISITORS FROM INDIA!

We have been getting tons of visits from India lately and we wondered at the Bigfoot Lunch Club, "How can we return the appreciation?" What better way than to add Monkey Man to the AKA Bigfoot World Map and post a tribute to India's Monkey Man of New Delhi.

An an overview provided by Wikipedia:

In May 2001, reports began to circulate in the Indian capital New Delhi of a strange monkey-like creature that was appearing at night and attacking people. Eyewitness accounts were often inconsistent, but tended to describe the creature as about four feet (120 cm) tall, covered in thick black hair, with a metal helmet, metal claws, glowing red eyes and three buttons on its chest.
Theories on the nature of the Monkey Man ranged from an avatar of the Hindu god Hanuman, to an Indian version of Bigfoot.[1]
Many people reported being scratched, and two (by some reports, three) people even died when they leapt from the tops of buildings or fell down stairwells in a panic caused by what they thought was the attacker. At one point, exasperated police even issued artist's impression drawings in an attempt to catch the creature. Many today still believe this "monkey man" continues to haunt the streets.

Time Magazine even dedicated an article covering this 2001 phenomenon.

In India, where religion dominates lives and where many of the country's 330 million gods take the shape of animals, birds and demons, the supernatural is often fused with reality, and reason often gets plowed under by superstition. In frightened northern and eastern New Delhi, home to some 4 million people, no neighborhood is dark after sunset anymore. Power outages have been stopped as a result of the panic, and city politicians guarantee electricity will remain on around-the-clock until the monster is caught (or forgotten). Wandering bands of vigilantes guard neighborhoods with wooden cudgels, daggers, field-hockey sticks, ceremonial swords and pikes made from butchers' cleavers. They carry whistles around their necks to warn other neighborhoods of impending attack. In the early hours, police fire flares over cultivated ground to see if the Monkey Man is hiding in the darkness. The area's 500-strong police force has been tripled. Some legislators are demanding the central government send in Elite commandos to deal with what they call "the crisis." A bounty of $1,100 has been put on his head.

The man charged with playing Agent Mulder to track down the Monkey Man in northeast Delhi is Vivek Gogia, deputy commissioner of police. At 2.30 a.m. the radio in his curtained automobile crackles, setting him racing to Old Seemapuri, a warren of closely packed, illegally built two- and three-story dwellings crisscrossed with alleys. Every light in every building is on. Women and old men peer from balconies and roofs. The vigilantes men and boys huddle around, babbling excitedly. Singling out a tall man at the back of the crowd, Gogia asks what happened. "There was this shadow, sir," he replies.

And as a final litmus test to determine the Monkey Man of New Delhi we have The Animated TV Series the Simpsons. Apu's wife says to her divorce lawyer: "No offense, but you remind me of the monkey man who slaughtered my family's chickens".

Disclaimer: We neither condone or endorse the stereotype of Apu in The Simpsons. We even found a link that asks, "How do Indians feel about the stereotypical portrayal of Apu in The Simpsons?"


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Learn More about The Monkey Man of New Delhi at Wikipedia
Read an article about The Monkey Man of New Delhi at Time Magazine

Thank you India for your support!the Bigfoot Lunch Club Salutes You!