• Chapter Titles
  • Expanded Contents
  • Chapter Summaries

Part IPrevailing Knowledge

1Prevailing Knowledge
2Questioning Prevailing Knowledge

Part IIEvidence

3Testimonial Evidence
4Historical Accounts
5Recent Accounts
6Sasquatch Tracks and Other Physical Evidence

Part IIIScrutinizing and Interpreting the Evidence

7Anatomical Patterns
8Behavioral Patterns

Part IVDiscovery

9The Great Ape Hypothesis
10The Importance of Theory
11The Discovery of the Sasquatch
12Scientific Resistance to Discovery

Part VReconsidering Prevailing Knowledge

13The Sasquatch as Misidentified Bear
14The Sasquatch as Hallucination or Imaginary Being
15The Sasquatch as Myth
16The Sasquatch as Hoax

Part VIDiscovery Forestalled

17Pseudoscience and Scientific Taboos
18Unawareness of Evidence
19Conformity and Dissent
20Interdisciplinary Dissonance
21Conclusion

 Epilogue

Part IPrevailing Knowledge

1Prevailing Knowledge
The sasquatch as myth / The Wendigo, Whit-ti-ko, or Weendegoag of the Algonkian-speaking peoples / The Dzunuk'wa or Dzonokwa of the Kwakwaka'wakw people / The Bukwus (Buhkwuss) or Bakwas of the Kwakwaka'wakw people / The Bushman of the Northern Athapaskan people / The sasquatch as hallucination or imaginary being / The sasquatch as corporeal and explainable
2Questioning Prevailing Knowledge
Challenging scientific orthodoxy: Scientific responsibility or dissent?

Part IIEvidence

3Testimonial Evidence
Mica Mountain, British Columbia: October 1955
4Historical Accounts
Arkansas, 1851  / California, 1870 / Georgia, 1889 / California, 1891 / Oregon, 1904 / British Columbia, 1904 / The importance of historical accounts
5Recent Accounts
British Columbia, 1965 / Northern Ontario, 1982 / Eastern Ontario, 1993 / British Columbia, 1997 / The validity of eyewitness accounts as evidence / The database of sasquatch accounts / Sasquatch distribution in North America
6Sasquatch Tracks and Other Physical Evidence
Sasquatch track casts as physical evidence / Historical accounts of sasquatch tracks and foot morphology / Anatomical features of the sasquatch foot / Sasquatch foot proportions / Straight square leading edge / Flatness as a morphological feature / Hoaxed sasquatch tracks / Flexibility / Spreading toes / Sasquatch “half-tracks” / Variable toe length / Variability in sasquatch foot size, shape, and morphology / Characteristics of a sasquatch trail or trackway / Other forms of physical evidence / Feeding sign / Twisted saplings / Beds / Scat

Part IIIScrutinizing and Interpreting the Evidence

7Anatomical Patterns
Wide shoulders and deep chest / Long arms / Short, thick neck / Pointed head / Extreme muscularity / Prognathism / Brow ridges / Two humanlike anatomical features / The convergent great toe / Protuberant “breasts” of female hominoids
8Behavioral Patterns
Beyond-human strength and speed / Beyond-human agility / Branch-breaking / Projectile-throwing / Loud vocalizations / Strong, foul odor / Context of elements of behavior / Bipedalism as a humanlike element of behavior

Part IVDiscovery

9The Great Ape Hypothesis
Testability / Consistency / Apparent inconsistencies / Predictive power and fruitfulness / Predictiveness and subsequent discoveries regarding African great apes / Meat-eating / Branch-breaking / Projectile-throwing / Simplicity or parsimony
10The Importance of Theory
Prematurity as a source of scientific resistance to discovery / Geographical parsimony / Disparity between current and former global distribution of mammals
11The Discovery of the Sasquatch
Framing a discovery claim for the sasquatch / Contemplating the claim of discovery in advance of a type specimen / An examination of a sasquatch specimen / Manitoba, 1941: Detailed anatomical observations of a sasquatch specimen / Receding forehead / Rounded chin / Short fingers and long palm
12Scientific Resistance to Discovery
The discovery of the great apes / The chimpanzee / The orangutan / The gorilla / A recent mammal discovery: the okapi / Inappropriate insistence on a date of discovery / Delayed medical discoveries / Geometrical spectra / Tourette's syndrome / “Alien” limb syndrome

Part VReconsidering Prevailing Knowledge

13The Sasquatch as Misidentified Bear
The sasquatch as misidentified bear: a factor in ecological modeling?
14The Sasquatch as Hallucination or Imaginary Being
The Sasquatch as Hallucination or Imaginary Being Hallucinations / Imaginary being / Paranormal
15The Sasquatch as Myth
The sasquatch as mythical but corporeal: an oxymoron? / “Intimations and anticipations” in Aboriginal myth and legend / Deeply set or sunken eyes / Rounded chin / Prognathism / Brow ridges / Nose and nostrils / Large upper lip / Foul odor / Chest-beating / Loud vocalizations
16The Sasquatch as Hoax
The Piltdown Man hoax / Type I and Type II errors / Conservation and wildlife management implications of Type I and Type II errors / Parsimony / Plausibility / Absence of informed scientific comment

Part VIDiscovery Forestalled

17Pseudoscience and Scientific Taboos
Delayed medical discoveries / The discovery of the value of citrus juice to prevent scurvy / Ignaz Semmelweis' discovery of the importance of hand-washing by doctors to prevent mortality in childbirth / The sasquatch as a subject of cryptozoology / The perception of the sasquatch as anomalous and unclassifiable / The sasquatch as an anomaly: the metaphor of the Black Swan
18Unawareness of Evidence
Undue reliance on authoritative opinion / Comparison of the North American sasquatch with the Himalayan yeti / Overemphasis on missing evidence / Scientific diffidence and naïveté as contributing factors to unawareness
19Conformity and Dissent
Reputational cascades / Dissenters: Contrarians and disclosers / Skepticism
20Interdisciplinary Dissonance
Rationalization and cognitive dissonance / Interdisciplinary dissonance and scientific resistance / A relevant example of interdisciplinary dissonance / Sexual dimorphism
21Conclusion

 Epilogue

Part IPrevailing Knowledge

1Prevailing Knowledge
Chapter 1 documents the strength and long-standing nature of the sasquatch as a cultural phenomenon, most commonly as an incorporeal being: mythical (in the sense of metaphorical, symbolic or supernatural) or as a hallucination or imaginary being. If corporeal, the sasquatch is most commonly perceived as a misidentified bear or product of a human hoax. The possibility that the sasquatch is an extant or “real” mammal is an alternative view not widely held at this writing in 2010, and appears to challenge prevailing knowledge.
2Questioning Prevailing Knowledge
Chapter 2 discusses the scientific mandate to correct existing theories when necessary. Also included are several cautionary statements regarding scientific resistance to challenges of prevailing knowledge or scientific orthodoxy. In particular, some of the difficulties encountered in attracting the attention of scientific colleagues to new ideas are identified.

Part IIEvidence

3Testimonial Evidence
A particularly articulate and detailed sasquatch eyewitness account which occurred in eastern British Columbia in 1955 gives rise to at least two important questions: (1) Why did an experienced North American hunter consider the large mammal he observed 55 years ago to be a species new to science? (2) Had members of this species not been observed previously?
4Historical Accounts
Chapter 4 addresses the questions raised at the end of chapter 3 by summarizing seven published eyewitness accounts from the period 1851-1904.
5Recent Accounts
Chapter 5 addresses another question raised by the 1955 account: Have members of this species been observed subsequent to that encounter? Four examples of eyewitness accounts from the period 1965-1997 are discussed in detail.
6Sasquatch Tracks and Other Physical Evidence
The ability of sasquatch tracks to corroborate the sasquatch as an existing North American mammal is discussed. The anatomical features of sasquatch feet are compared to those of bears, fabricated “sasquatch feet” of hoaxers, and human feet. Other reported forms of sasquatch sign, such as feeding sign and twisted saplings, are illustrated and discussed.

Part IIIScrutinizing and Interpreting the Evidence

7Anatomical Patterns
The pattern of anatomical features common to the sasquatch and known great apes, especially the gorilla, is discussed and illustrated.
8Behavioral Patterns
The similarities between sasquatch behavior and the elements of ape display (intimidation) behavior are noted and discussed, and the beyond-human strength and speed of the sasquatch are considered as well.

Part IVDiscovery

9The Great Ape Hypothesis
The similarity of the anatomical and behavioral characteristics reported for the sasquatch to those of the known great apes has given rise to “the great ape hypothesis,” a hypothesis which proposes that the sasquatch is, in fact, a bipedal North American great ape. This hypothesis is examined according to recognized criteria such as testability, consistency, predictiveness, fruitfulness, simplicity, and parsimony.
10The Importance of Theory
The inhibiting effect of an apparent absence of a theoretical basis for an upright great ape in North America is acknowledged and addressed. Also discussed is the concept of geographical parsimony, a concept which may explain scientific unwillingness to consider the possibility of an ape on a continent outside the currently accepted distribution of ape occurrence.
11The Discovery of the Sasquatch
The concept of discovery as a process, rather than as a discrete event, is discussed. It is noted that discoveries which have been neglected or ignored may require rediscovery.
12Scientific Resistance to Discovery
Understanding scientific resistance may be important, according to one sociologist, because “by knowing more about acceptance and resistance in scientific discovery, we may be able to reduce the former by a little and thereby reduce the latter in the same measure.” (Bernard Barber, “Resistance by Scientists to Scientific Discovery,” Science, 134 [1961]: 596.) Examples of delayed or resisted discoveries are summarized and discussed.

Part VReconsidering Prevailing Knowledge

13The Sasquatch as Misidentified Bear
The ability of sasquatch reports to be explained as observations of upright bears is examined. The absence of an illustration of a sasquatch in mammal field guides is discussed with respect to its role in inhibiting consideration of sasquatches as a possible explanation for observations of upright large mammals in North America. Figures 13.1 and 13.2 provide an example of a field guide illustration that would address this situation.
Figure 13.1 Field guide illustration
of an upright black bear
Figure 13.2 Field guide illustration
of a sasquatch
Sasquatch Field Guide Drawing
Courtesy of Wendy Dyck
14The Sasquatch as Hallucination or Imaginary Being
The perception of the sasquatch as a hallucination, or as an imaginary or paranormal being, is briefly discussed.
15The Sasquatch as Myth
The question is raised: Does being mythical preclude the sasquatch from also being an extant (or “real”) mammal. Consideration of whether the anatomical features of the sasquatch as observed by modern eyewitnesses were first recorded in Aboriginal myth is shown here to be fruitful and predictive.
16The Sasquatch as Hoax
Hoax claims are examined, particularly with regard to fabricated “sasquatch feet” alleged to have been used as a stamp for sasquatch tracks. The hoax hypothesis and the great ape hypothesis are compared from the point of view of parsimony.

Part VIDiscovery Forestalled

This section discusses the scientific, social, and philosophical factors which may have inhibited sasquatch research and prolonged acknowledgement of the species' existence.
17Pseudoscience and Scientific Taboos
The repercussions of sasquatch research being treated as pseudoscience are discussed. Similarly, the perception of the sasquatch as anomalous and unclassifiable is also discussed.
18Unawareness of Evidence
It is suggested that scientific gatekeepers who have rejected papers intended to apprise colleagues of sasquatch evidence may have done so because they were unaware of important, valid evidence, while being very aware of hoaxes and hoax claims. A degree of circularity may have become implicit in this situation.
19Conformity and Dissent
This chapter explores why the few scientists studying the sasquatch have experienced difficulty in attracting the attention of colleagues to their research results. One possible reason is the perception of such scientists as dissenters. While skepticism is acknowledged as a normal and essential component of scientific scrutiny, the dangers of excessive or uninformed skepticism are also discussed.
20Interdisciplinary Dissonance
The interdisciplinary nature of previous knowledge regarding the sasquatch is discussed as having possibly prolonged the discovery of the sasquatch.
21Conclusion
The readiness of an eyewitness to question his recent sasquatch observations as “defy[ing] any type of scientific evidence” is discussed as a manifestation of the continuing influence of previous knowledge.
 Epilogue
Excerpts from the writing of two eminent philosophers of science describe situations such as that experienced by the handful of scientists who treat the sasquatch as an extant mammal in their research.