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Bigfoot Theories of Origin*
*It is not our goal here to fight the Evolution vs. Creationary debate here. These are posted as references for those interested.
THE SUSPECTS IN THE EVOLUTIONARY CHAIN
Gigantopithicus Blacki
The first Gigantopithecus remains were found in 1935 by an anthropologist Ralph von Koenigswald in an apothecary shop, where fossilized teeth and bones are often ground into powder and used in some branches of Traditional Chinese medicine.
Gigantopithicus is Latin for "Great Ape".
Based on fossil evidence, the adult male Gigantopithecus blacki stood about 10 ft. tall and weighed as much as 1,200 lb. making the species two to three times heavier than modern gorillas and nearly five times heavier than the orangutan, its closest living relative. The species was highly sexually dimorphic, adult females weighing about half the of males. Believed to have lived in the Miocene Era.
Evidence another species, Gigantopithecus giganteus, has been found in northern India and China. It is believed that giganteus was about half the size of blacki. Gigantopithecus was likely a quadruped. Originally believed to be an herbivore, recent theories suggest it was a generalist in its eating habits.
It was a Primate belonging to the Pongid family. Many Researchers and Scientists believe that if Sasquatch exists, it is most likelyrelated to the Gigantopithicus Blacki.
Other animals in the class of Pongid's include, orangutans, gorillas and chimpanzees.
The Paranthropus Robustus
Paranthropus robustus was originally discovered in Southern Africa in 1938 and came to name by anthropologist Robert Broom. Paranthropus robustus is generally dated to have lived between 2.0 and 1.2 million years ago. P. robustus had large dorsal crests, jaws, and jaw muscles that were adapted to serve in the dry environment that they lived in.
P. robustus had a head shaped a bit like a gorilla's with a more massive built jaw and teeth in comparison to hominids within the Homo lineage. Also noted is the sagital crest that runs from the top of the skull acts as an anchor for large chewing muscles.
The average brain size of P. robustus measured, about as large as a chimpanzee's.
Meganthropus Paleojavanicus
Discovered in 1941 by Ralph Von Koenigswald. Koenigswald after being captured by the Japanese in World War II, managed to send a cast of the jaw to anthropologist Franz Weidenreich whom described and named the specimen in 1945, and was struck by its size, it was the largest hominid jaw then known. The jaw was roughly the same height as a gorilla's, but was much thicker.
Weidenreich never made a size estimate of the hominid it came from, but was 2/3 the size of Gigantopithecus, which is twice the size of a gorilla, making it approximately 8 feet tall.
Weidenreich theorized that Meganthropus was a descendant of Gigantopithecus, and gave rise to Pithecanthropus, and then modern Asians in the Human Evolutionary Theory.
The majority of paleoanthropologists believe that Meganthropus is related to Homo erectus, but it is not agreed upon how closely.
Gracile Australopithecines (Australopithicus Africanus)
Discovered in South Africa by Anthropologist Robert Dart, Gracile Australopithecines shared several traits with modern apes and humans, and were found throughout Eastern and Northern Africa between 3.0 and 3.9 million years ago. (Pliocene Era)
The brains of most species of Australopithecus were roughly 35% of the size of that of a modern human brain. Most species of Australopithecus were diminutive approximately 4 to 4.5 ft. tall. In several variations of australopithecine there is a considerable degree of sexual dimorphism, meaning that males are larger than females.
Australopithicus are among the most famous of the extinct hominids. The brains of most species of Australopithecus were roughly 35% of the size of that of a modern human brain. However most species of Australopithecus were diminutive.
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