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He thinks it's a bear.
DNA analysis conducted by Oxford University genetics professor Bryan Sykes suggests the creature, also known as the Yeti, is the descendant of an ancient polar bear.
Sykes compared DNA from hair samples taken from two Himalayan animals -identified as local people as Yetis - to a database of animal genomes. He found they shared a genetic fingerprint with an ancient polar bear jawbone found in the Norwegian Arctic that is at least 40,000 years old.
Sykes said Thursday that the tests showed the creatures were not related to modern Himalayan bears but were direct descendants of the prehistoric animal.
He said, "it may be a new species, it may be a hybrid" between polar bears and brown bears.
"The next thing is go there and find one."
The Yeti or Abominmable Snowman is one of a number of legendary ape-like beasts - along with Sasquatch and Bigfoot - reputed to live in heavily forested or snowy mountains. Scientists are skeptical, but decades of eyewitness reports, blurry photos and stories have kept the legend alive.
"I do not think the study gives any comfort to Yeti-believers," David Frayer, a professor of biological anthropology at the University of Kansas, said in an email. But "no amount of scientific data will ever shake their belief." –Sapa.
