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[[Image:PattersonGimlinbigfoot.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Frame 352 of a film showing a sasquatch, shot near Bluff Creek, California by Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin on October 20, 1967, purporting to show a sasquatch.<ref>[http://www.trueseekers.org/video/Patterson.mpg Patterson/Gimlin film (Quicktime format)]</ref>]]The '''Sasquatch''' is an alleged ape-like animal said to inhabit which inhabits the remote forested areas of much of North America, with a large number of sightings taking place in especially the Pacific northwest of the United States and Canada. Along with the [[Loch Ness Monster]] of [[Scotland]] and the [[Yeti]] of the [[Himalayas]], the sasquatch This is one of the most famous animals of cryptozoology and is believed to exist by many, despite the fact that its existence has been dismissed by mainstream science as either reflected in native folklore or <ref>http://www.bigfootencounters.com/legends/seeahtik.htm</ref><ref>http://www.bigfootencounters.com/legends/modoc.htm</ref> and a series large number of hoaxes due to a lack of concrete evidencesightings.<ref>http://www.bfro.net/GDB/</ref>

The word “sasquatch” is a corruption of ''se'sxac'', which came from the Bitterroot Salish tribe of Western Montana, meaning “wild men”, and the first use of this word can be traced to the research of a school teacher at the Chehalis Indian Reserve in British Columbia named J.W. Burns in the mid-1920s. Burns had collected a large amount of material referring to the legends of describing the sasquatch by the Pacific northwest tribes, noting the similarity between the slightly different names used by individual tribes when referring to the "wild men", and then possibly combining them all into one word. The famous modern term ''bigfoot'' has been in use since approximately the same time, but received national exposure during the late 1950s, when loggers in northern California county of Humbolt began seeing the large tracks for which they were named.

==DescriptionEvidence==To date, the sasquatch has never been confirmed by science to exist as ===Sightings===Eyewitness accounts describe a real animal in its own right; eyewitness accounts provide the only description, which can vary to some degree. The majority state that it is large and bipedalcreature, standing between 6 and 9 feet tall, and covered completely with course, dark-reddish or brown hair. The ape-like head is said to sit directly upon the shoulders, with no neck visible, and is sometimes crowned with a sagittal crest. An extremely-foul odor has also been claimed described by witnesses, giving the sasquatch the derisive name of ''skunk ape''.

The closest animal fitting this description, at least for those convinced of the sasquatch’s existence, is the extinct anthropoid ape Those accounts closely match ''Gigantopithecus blacki'', which is <ref>http://www.wynja.com/arch/gigantopithecus.html</ref> an anthropoid ape, believed to be extinct and known only from a few molars and the frontal part of a lower mandible found in southern China. Current scientific consensus states that ''Gigantopithecus'' was a quadrupedMany scientists, and not bipedal as most notably the sasquatch is claimed to belate anthropologist Dr. Despite the lack of a pelvis as evidenceGrover Krantz, many scientists who believe in <ref>http://www.bfro.net/news/krantz.asp</ref> accept the existence of the sasquatch, most notably the late anthropologist . Dr. Grover Krantz, have has stated that despite the lack of a pelvis as evidence, the width of the ''Gigantopithecus'' jawbone widened considerably from front to rear, similar to humans and unlike modern apes, creating creates room for the windpipe to sit within the space of the jaw itself and thus indicating a bipedal stance.

The most common evidence found for the sasquatch are the has left many tracks found in remote areas found by loggers, hikers, and others. They The tracks are human in appearance except for size, which if fitted for a shoe would be a size 23-24. These Some tracks are also commonly created by hoaxers wearing wooden or rubber fakes, and certainly these can usually be detetected but many have been fooled by them. But many tracks defy any explanation except that of a real animal. One track found near the town of Bossburg, Washington in 1969 was cited described by Dr. Krantz to have as having come from an individual with a deformed or “club” foot; its mate was normal. Other sets have been collected and preserved with intricate dermal ridges and wrinkles suggesting as one would expect from a real animal.

During the summer of 2000 members of the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization deliberately constructed a fruit-baited “mud trap”, with the intent of collecting designed to collect tracks; instead the researchers have claimed to have recovered a partial body impression of a “skookum” (sasquatch in the Chinook language) as it laid in the mud to eat. Collected was the The impression included details of the animal’s hindquarters, ankles, and left arm, in addition to and hair impressions. Critics, including several members of BFRO, stated what was recovered was the impression of an elk.

==LinksSecular Science==*[http://www.trueseekers.org/video/Patterson.mpg Patterson/Gimlin film (Quicktime format)]

[[Secular Science|Secular science]] rejects the reliable eyewitness accounts and evidence meticulously colllected by the [[best of the public]]. Instead they regard researching the sasquatch as [[cryptozoology]], which includes such creatures as the [[Loch Ness Monster]] of [[Scotland]] and the [[Yeti]] of the [[Himalayas]]. Eyewitness accounts are dismissed as either a series of hoaxes or misinterpretations of something else. They also claim that ''gigantopithecus'' was a quadruped and not bipedal like the sasquatch. The Skookum body cast is simply dismissed as the the impression of an elk. Many Scientists often take an approach to cryptozoology which is very similar to their [[environmental alarmism]]. This was aptly summed up by [[Richard Lindzen]]: "Essentially if whatever you are told is alleged to be supported by 'all scientists,' you don't have to understand [the issue] anymore. You simply go back to treating it as a matter of religious belief." <ref>http://www.cdfe.org/global_warming_religion.htm</ref> ==References==<references/> [[Category:Animals]][[Category:Mammals]][[Category:Primates]][[Category:CryptidsVertebrates]]