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François Vanasse and an associate (HP) have created the Bigfoot family tree shown above.

Here’s Vanasse’s comment on it, followed by his colleague’s:

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“First off, this is assuming that any of these creatures actually exist, and are biological…. To start with we placed all of these into the family of Great Apes, but have created a new subfamily called ‘Ferrisvirae’ which literally means ”wild men” and includes both imaginary genuses of Megapodapthecae and Capleoferrae. Sivapithecus is the ancestor of Gigantopithecus and hence the possible ancestor of Capleoferrae. However in our tree we chose to have Megapodapithecae branch out in the early stages of Gigantopithecus evolution. There are a myriad of other possible ancestor candidates, Giganto and Sivapithecus are only 2 major candidates. This evolutionary tree places the beginning of Bigfoot evolution at about 8 million years ago. The current species names are open to suggestion, and so is the arrangement of branches. This is the best tree we could create and there are obviously many more additions to come such as the Malaysian Bigfoot, Agogwe, Myakka Ape and others. Hopefully you guys will enjoy this, and any of the species with 3 names are subspecies of the original.

“HP: Although we had already discussed names for Bigfoot, the Yeti and others, I wanted to make an evolutionary tree, so I brought the idea to Vanasse’s attention. We decided to go ahead and make one. I had drawn up the genus and species names (though a few species names were changed later on), and separated Orang-Pendek and the Almas into there own genus named Capleoferrae, due to their smaller size and more human-like appearence. Then we put the other hominids into the Megapodapithecae genus. After that we put them into a subfamily already mentioned by Vanasse. Then afterwards we decided on the likely canidates for their ancestors. Finally we finished and Vanasse insisted on making Sasquatch (M. b. pacifica) a subspecies which now makes a little more sense that it did at the time. So I decided to make the “true” Yeti a subspecies (M. a. thibetanus), since there is another smaller Yeti which I named M. a. pymaeus. Then Vanasse decided to add the Skunk Ape as well which we named M. b. moschata. Then once that was done and we had a few examples of possible subspecies, Vanasse created the tree.

“Please know that we are aware of how little data and information we are actually working with. All of this is mere conjecture, and so criticisms can be as harsh as necessary. Feel free to suggest changes and additions to Ferrisvirae.”

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I find various problems with their chart. As I note in my book The Field Guide of Bigfoot and Other Mystery Primates, there are clear cut differences between unknown hominids and unknown pongids. They all are hominoids, yes, but hominids are not pongids.

I asked Vanesse: “Why is the anthropoid or pongid Skunk Ape seen as more closely related to the humanoid Bigfoot as opposed to the pongid Yeti? Where does Homo floresiensis fit in your chart?”

François Vanasse answered:

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“The inclusion of the Skunk Ape as a subspecies was more or less a last minute addition, and was not given too much thought.”

“Well, my friend and I were a little unsure about many of the Napes in the southern United States. We had multiple theories which included South American origins, but we eventually decided on making it a subspecies of Bigfoot based on location, as we mentioned before we didn’t have much data to work with and we relied heavily on Cryptozoology A to Z as well as our own understanding of basic evolutionary principles.

“The chart places all of the, for lack of a better word ‘hairy-hominids’ somewhere between Gigantopithecus and orang-utans. Homo floresiensis is part of the genus Homo, which would make him ineligible for this chart as we created 2 new genuses Megapodapithecae (for Yeti, Yowie, and Napes) and Capleoferrae (for Orang-Pendek, Almas, and others.) We are very open to suggested modifications, additions, and reorganizations as it is only a first draft, and nowhere near having all the information available. Since it is only conjecture, virtually anything is possible.”

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Yikes, the ultimate scary reply: they used Cryptozoology A to Z to construct their chart. I wish they would have used the works of Ivan T. Sanderson, John Napier, Mark Hall, and a dozen other people, as well as instead my classification ideas in The Field Guide of Bigfoot and Other Mystery Primates. I don’t know how they got here from there, but I am left pondering the answer, with respect.

Actually, I have much to say about their chart, but I thought it would be an interesting learning/educational experience to open this up for Cryptomundo readers. Therefore, with the authors’ permission, I am posting this “chart of conjecture” here for your discussion, suggested revisions, and additions. Also I have posted Ivan T. Sanderson’s 1961 chart throughout this blog, from his book Abominable Snowmen: Legend Come to Life, for comparative purposes.

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Please click to enlarge this image of Bigfoot as drawn by Paul Smith, and sepia-colorized for the cover of Bigfoot! The True Story of Apes in America.

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Any critiques? Suggestions? Also, if people can point to other Bigfoot family trees, which would be instructive, please do.