A British scientist said he was anxiously awaiting the results of DNA tests on hair claimed to be from a yeti after initial examinations showed it had human and ape-like characteristics.
Ian Redmond, a biologist and expert in ape conservation, said the hairs found in the Indian jungle resembled samples collected by the conqueror of Everest, Sir Edmund Hillary, in the 1950s.
“Under the microscope, they look slightly human, slightly like an orangutan and slightly like the hairs brought back by Edmund Hillary,” Redmond told AFP.
PHOTO: EPA
“These hairs remain an enigma. They could be a new species, but the DNA tests will hopefully tell us more.”
The hairs were brought back from India this year by a BBC journalist, Alastair Lawson, who contacted Redmond and was put in touch with a team at Oxford Brookes University in south central England.
Lawson was given the hairs by yeti believer Dipu Marak, who retrieved them in dense jungle in the Meghalaya state of India after a forester allegedly spotted the creature on three consecutive days in 2003.
Marak believes the hairs come from an ape-like Indian version of the fabled yeti, or abominable snowman, which he believes stands about 3m tall.
Redmond and scientists from Oxford Brookes examined the hairs under powerful microscopes, comparing them with samples taken from an Asiatic black bear, yaks, orangutans and gorillas, and even a hair from Redmond’s beard.
While the microscope tests were inconclusive, the hairs are now undergoing DNA tests.
Redmond admitted his excitement was tinged with fear.
“My concern is that if we do find something unusual, it will be from a very small population of animals and I would want to talk to the state government and Indian government so they are not inundated with people trying to catch one for a museum.”
(AFP)
一位英國科學家表示，一撮據稱來自「喜馬拉雅山雪人」的毛髮經初步檢驗後顯示，具有類人類猿的特質，而他正焦急地等待DNA鑑定結果出爐。
生物學家兼猿類保育專家伊安．雷德蒙說，這撮在印度叢林中發現的毛髮，和一九五０年代登上聖母峰的愛德蒙．希拉瑞爵士所採集回來的樣本十分相似。
雷德蒙向法新社表示：「從顯微鏡下觀察，這撮毛髮看起來有點像人類、有點像紅毛猩猩，也有點像愛德蒙．希拉瑞帶回來的毛髮。」
「這撮毛髮至今仍是個謎，有可能屬於某新物種，但我們希望DNA鑑定結果能提供更多線索。」
英國廣播公司記者亞列斯德爾．勞森今年從印度帶回這撮毛髮，他和雷德蒙聯繫後，被轉介給牛津布魯克大學（位在英格蘭中南部）的一個研究團隊。
二ＯＯ三年，一位林務員指稱連續三天在印度梅加拉亞邦一處茂密的森林內目擊雪人後，篤信雪人存在的狄普．瑪拉喀便前往搜尋並發現這撮毛髮，之後他將毛髮轉交給勞森。
瑪拉喀相信，這撮毛髮是來自印度傳說中半人半猿的喜馬拉雅山雪人，他認為他們的身高大約有三公尺。
雷德蒙和牛津布魯克大學的科學家利用高倍顯微鏡來檢驗這撮毛髮，並拿它和亞洲黑熊、犛牛、紅毛猩猩和黑猩猩，甚至是雷德蒙的鬍子做比對。
然而顯微鏡檢測並不能得到切確的結果，這撮毛髮目前正在進行DNA檢驗。
雷德蒙坦承他的心情既興奮又擔心。
「我擔心的是如果我們真的有什麼特殊發現，那肯定是種非常稀有的動物。我會想和梅加拉亞邦政府及印度政府溝通，以免該地湧入大批想獵製標本的民眾。」
（法新社�翻譯：袁星塵）
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