The names vary by region and by peoples, but the descriptions are similar enough: a biped with an ape-like gait, roughly the size of a large human, with lots and lots of fur.

People have been spotting Sasquatches or Yetis or Abominable Snowmen for centuries, and legends of these enormous primates populate the myths and fairytales of cultures on nearly every continent. It’s only recently, however, that man has made a study of what Americans usually call Bigfoot. In the decades after Robert Gimlin and Roger Patterson captured their famous footage, cryptozoologists—self-identified scientists who study unproven anthropomorphic animals—and ‘squatch hunters have carried out a Linnaean effort to classify the Bigfoots of the world and create a legitimate Bigfoot taxonomy. The result is a surprisingly clear profile of a creature that may or may not exist.

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