What will DNA tell us about Bigfoot?
If and when a
Bigfoot specimen is taken, it is expected that the DNA results will help place
the Bigfoot somewhere in the ape-human family tree. Don't be so sure.
DNA is not
the be-all, end-all 'blueprint' when it comes to defining differences and
similarities between species like the great apes and humans, or for that
matter, any species. There is also
morphology to consider. (Wiki describes Morphology as a
branch of biology dealing with the study of the form and structure of
organisms and their specific structural features. This includes aspects of the
outward appearance (shape, structure, color, pattern), i.e., external morphology as
well as the form and structure of the internal parts like bones and organs,
i.e., internal morphology or anatomy.)
You've probably heard
that humans are most closely related to the great ape, the chimpanzee.
Nucleotide mismatches with humans occur in the African great apes, as is
determined by DNA hybridization, at the rate of 1.1%. Humans and orangutans
differ by a factor of 2.4%. That's a pretty close genetic similarity.*
Yet, as small the percentage is, why aren't chimps and humans almost identical in a morphological sense? (i.e. why don' t they look more alike?) * Did you know that human males differ from human females in their DNA by about 1.5%. A major reason is that the male Y chromosome is much smaller female X chromosome. If you took only the percentage differences, wouldn't you conclude that human males are more closely related to chimps than human females? The difference, of course, is that human males and females are much more similar to each other morphologically. Some of these are derived features of the Homo sapiens species. (In the study of evolutionary relationships, derived refers to traits that exist in a present organism, but did not exist in the organism's ancestors.)*
Let's talk about another
great ape, the orangutan. There are two species of orangutans, Bornean and
Sumatran. The mitochondrial DNA difference between these two very similar species
exceeds that between humans and chimpanzees. Yet, the two types of orangutans
are much more similar to each other morphologically than humans are with
chimps.* As an aside, I think the study
of orangutans is very important because the possible ancestors of Bigfoot are
Sivapithecus and the later Gigantopithecus, both who have strong ties to
current day orangutans.
The comparison of gene
sequences is not enough. Importantly, it's the effect of communication between
regulatory genes and RNA, so-called genomic processes that is going to result
in an improved understanding of evolution and genes.
(*ideas from 'The Red
Ape' by Jeffrey H. Schwartz)
So, what's my point?
