On December 1, 2007, before my “Introduction to Cryptozoology” talk, I toured the American Museum of Natural History’s exhibition on Mythic Creatures. In their moderately-sized exhibition hall, I felt one of the highlights was the corner they set aside for unknown hairy hominoids.

The Gigantopithecus model was a wonder. It appeared as above, large and Yeti-like for all the world to ponder.

The photographs below might give an insight into a different kind of feeling.

Cryptomundo correspondent Trey Howell had just finished reading Bigfoot! The True Story of Apes in America and found himself at the American Museum of Natural History during the middle of this week.

He was wandering around the halls. Trey “passed a TRex, turned a corner and behind some barriers in a crate [he saw] the full scale Gigantopithecus model.” What he saw was startling and remarkable.

He had discovered the museum was breaking down the recently closed exhibition Mythic Creatures, near the Dinosaur wing on the 4th floor. Being a well-prepared Cryptomundian, needless to say, he had his camera at ready. He snapped off some pictures to share with me, and by extension Cryptomundo.

Is this a peek into the future, to how it will look when the first Gigantopithecus or Yeti or Sasquatch is captured?

What will the first trapped but living Abominable Snowman look like?

These photos give a sense of the power evidenced in such a meeting between one of these Pleistocene giants and our ancestors. For an individual who has encountered one more recently, the beast’s appearance must go beyond easy descriptions.

Photos by Trey Howell.