Cliff Barackman Kicks off Bigfoot Speaker Series in Portland, OR

Cliff Barackman (far right) is previewing his new DVD at HopsSquatch 

HopsSquatch is a Bigfoot and Beer event dedicated to the latest Bigfoot news and research. A unique speaker’s series held on the 4th Sunday of each month

Location:
The Lucky Labrador Brew Pub
915 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Portland Oregon 97214 (map)

Get behind-the-scenes information from the experts and become Bigfoot insiders learning what is on the horizon of Bigfoot research. Cliff Barackman, Host of Finding Bigfoot will kick off this series on April 28th. Below is the April 28th Schedule.

Series presentations-$5 per person
(limited seating so reserve early!) or save by becoming a member of Hopssquatch for $50.

Membership includes a seat at each series event, a Hopssquatch t-shirt, first chance at news and speaker updates, and more.

Event Nite Schedule (2pm to 5pm):
Cliff's Presentation - Sharing his latest research!
Preview of Cliff's new DVD - First time screened in public!
Moderated Q&A -You get to ask Cliff Questions!
Panel Discussion - Bigfooters discuss DNA, Kill/No Kill, etc...

Event Nite Schedule (5pm to 8pm):
Preview of New Bigfoot Documentary, "Dead Bigfoot."
Cheers and Beers 'til 8pm

Future Speakers Include:
Thom Powell, Best selling Author of "The Locals"
Kirk Sigurdson, Expert in Hidden Histories
Guy Edwards, Founder of Bigfoot Lunch Club
Doug Meacham, Hypnotist
Ro Sahebi, Film Maker and Documentarian from L.A.
Cindy Rose Caddell, Author & Anthropology Major

Limited Space-Reserve Now!

Melba Ketchum Continues Bigfoot DNA Research with Bones

Dr. Melba Kecthum is excited about new DNA extraction techniques

"One is from Dave Paulides since he has put that out publicly and another from Mike Rugg since he has also openly discussed it." --Dr. Melba Kectchum Responding to where did the bone samples come from.

Dr. Melba Ketchum announced she will be working on teeth and bone samples in pursuit of Bigfoot DNA. The technique she will be using is a technique taught to her from a Dr. Pat. According to Dr. Ketchum, Dr. Pat has never failed at getting DNA from bone and has developed the extraction techniques that have identified people for the military, including the soldiers buried in the Tomb of the Unknown.

As a side note, anonymity of the entombed soldier is key to the symbolism of the monument: since the identity is unknown, it could theoretically be the tomb of anyone who fell in service of the nation in question, and therefore serves as a monument to all of their sacrifices. Symbolism is great, but families their fallen identified and post-Vietnam soldiers may never be unknown again. You can read about the last identified soldier in this Washington Post article.

Getting back to Dr. Ketchum, she seems very excited about the techniques and makes a distinction between forensic scientist and academic scientist. Read an excerpt from her announcement on facebook  below.

[Dr. Pat] taught me the technique, but he has the wonderful robots that make extractions more perfect than I could ever do manually. He has never failed to get DNA from bone. Even manually his techniques are SO fantastic that I was able to get usable DNA from cremated remains in two separate cases (one cat and one human) and I never thought we could do that, especially without robots. We recently extracted DNA from some 2000 year old tissue and hair and got good results (DNA profiles) using these extraction methods without having to amplify the DNA (WGA) or make a "library" like they did for the Neandertal and Denisovan hominins prior to sequencing. We have one sample that is highly degraded bone and it will be interesting if this will be the first time this extraction technique fails. I am betting on getting DNA though. The academics could sure learn a few things from forensic scientists about extracting good DNA from minimal samples and also how to determine if there is really contamination other than just assuming that there is... It is so awesome! I gotta love science!!!!

We actually know quite a bit about the tooth from Mike Rugg. It is a fairly large molar, decidedly primate according to Mike and was found in 2002 during a shark tooth dig in Scotts Valley, California. You can watch Mike Rugg talk about the toothe in the video below.





CORRECTION: The initial version of this post claimed Dr. Pat has been responsible for identifying people for the military, more accurately Dr. Pat has been responsible for developing the extraction techniques that have identified people for the military. The post has been changed to reflect the correction.  

This Just In! Neanderthal Human Love Child Found

Hybrid with a Neanderthal mother and Human father may have been found

"The researchers found that, although the hybridization between the two hominid species likely took place, the Neanderthals continued to uphold their own cultural traditions." --Jennifer Viegas, Discover News

We were just talking about hybrids yesterday. It's like Bigfoot Lunch Club is not only on the cutting edge of Bigfoot news, but on the cutting edge of science news too! (Intellectually we know it is coincidence, but let us have this--please.)

In an article that seems to have all the anthropologist buzzing, we may have found the first official Neanderthal/Human hybrid, with DNA to back it up. Or as we crassly put it, the Neanderthal/Human lovechild...Read the article below.

The skeletal remains of an individual living in northern Italy 40,000-30,000 years ago are believed to be that of a human/Neanderthal hybrid, according to a paper in PLoS ONE.

If further analysis proves the theory correct, the remains belonged to the first known such hybrid, providing direct evidence that humans and Neanderthals interbred. Prior genetic research determined the DNA of people with European and Asian ancestry is 1 to 4 percent Neanderthal.

The present study focuses on the individual’s jaw, which was unearthed at a rock-shelter called Riparo di Mezzena in the Monti Lessini region of Italy. Both Neanderthals and modern humans inhabited Europe at the time.

“From the morphology of the lower jaw, the face of the Mezzena individual would have looked somehow intermediate between classic Neanderthals, who had a rather receding lower jaw (no chin), and the modern humans, who present a projecting lower jaw with a strongly developed chin,” co-author Silvana Condemi, an anthropologist, told Discovery News.

Condemi is the CNRS research director at the University of Ai-Marseille. She and her colleagues studied the remains via DNA analysis and 3-D imaging. They then compared those results with the same features from Homo sapiens.

The genetic analysis shows that the individual’s mitochondrial DNA is Neanderthal. Since this DNA is transmitted from a mother to her child, the researchers conclude that it was a “female Neanderthal who mated with male Homo sapiens.”

By the time modern humans arrived in the area, the Neanderthals had already established their own culture, Mousterian, which lasted some 200,000 years. Numerous flint tools, such as axes and spear points, have been associated with the Mousterian. The artifacts are typically found in rock shelters, such as the Riparo di Mezzena, and caves throughout Europe.

The researchers found that, although the hybridization between the two hominid species likely took place, the Neanderthals continued to uphold their own cultural traditions.

That's an intriguing clue, because it suggests that the two populations did not simply meet, mate and merge into a single group.

You can read the rest at science.nbcnews.com