The first thing we all need to
get our heads around is that various species of fur covered primates exist
throughout the globe have been extensively reported on over the decades. Bigfoot is the North American species and
even that may turn out to be more than one species somewhat related.
Primates had millions of years to
speciate and penetrate new habitats.
More specifically, they are all adapted to living in the forests. We are not!!
That is why we interact with them at their pleasure and not ours. For the record, the number of both first
class and second class observations of these creatures in North
America is close to ten thousand.
They are also nocturnal and engage
in foraging at night. This minimizes the
opportunity for interaction.
So the question been addressed is
do we have a good reason to have a giant version of the primate line and is
this line sufficiently intelligent to plausibly interact with humans and use
weapons? Does it need to use skins as
clothing?
The reports give us a picture of
a giant with human characteristics and behavior, suggesting it is far more closely
related to us that any other primate out there known or suspected. However, it is wild and as primitive in its lifeway
as mankind before our emergence around 250,000 years ago. Its tool use does not appear to extend to
working with stone.
Yet like all other large
primates, they make themselves scarce when humanity is around. They are certainly smart enough to do this. This
is not hard to do as we are practically blind even in daytime in the
forest. It you doubt me, just step
inside a large conifer whose skirts reach the ground.
Hairy Giants
Goliath-Sized Monsters
By Nick Redfern January 28, 2012
Countless books have been written about those strange and elusive hairy
man-beasts that are said to stealthily co-exist with us: the Bigfoot of North
America, the Yeti of the Himalayas, the Yowie of Australia ,
and the Yeren of China
But what if something else, something even more fantastic in its
implications than the idea that Bigfoot is Gigantopithecus, is actually afoot?
That's the scenario we are treated to in the new book from Mark A. Hall and
Loren Coleman, True Giants: Is Gigantopithecus Still Alive?
This is a book that, if you're interested in Sasquatch and its hairy
ilk, you'll definitely want to read. It may not, however, be the book you're
anticipating or expecting. But, as I'll demonstrate, that's a very good thing.
The theory that Bigfoot, the Yeti, the Yowie (the list goes on) are
indeed surviving pockets of Gigantopithecus is an attractive one. After all, at
least some of the old stomping grounds of Gigantopithecus do broadly correspond
to locales from where, today, we get reports of unknown, large apes. So, the
theory does seem to make sense - at first glance.
The problem is that, for the most part, while Bigfoot and most of
the rest of the hairy man-beasts among us are certainly big compared to the Human
Race, they're not that big. Creatures of 7-, 8-, or maybe 9-feet in height are
typically what we hear of from those who are fortunate enough to encounter
such animals.
But, just occasionally, a rare, rogue case will come along where the
witness is certain that the creature they saw is far larger - maybe, rather
astonishingly, in the region of 12-to-15 feet in height.
I've heard people say words to the effect of: "Well, sometimes, we
see humans reaching 7- or 8-feet, so why shouldn't there be a few over sized
Bigfoot?" Fair enough, you might say. But, there's another explanation
too: we may be looking at different animals, rather than simply enormous
versions of just one type. And, maybe those rare and rogue cases are not so
rare and rogue after all! Cue True Giants.
So that there can be no misunderstanding of where they are coming from,
Hall and Coleman note their position carefully, and early on, in the book:
"These True Giants are not 'Bigfoot,' despite some efforts to make
simple comparisons with creatures such as the one seen in the famous Roger
Patterson-Robert Gimlin motion film of a Neo-Giant in California in 1967...They
are of a different genus of primate."
And it's with respect to this different genus of primate that we get to
learn so much about the truly massive Gigantopithecus in the pages of True
Giants. The reader is treated to an excellent account of how Gigantopithecus
came to be discovered and classified; its place in both zoology and
cryptozoology; how and why the assumption has been made that it, Bigfoot and
the Yeti are one and the same; and most importantly, why that assumption
suffers from some major flaws.
And as the authors detail extensively and authoritatively in their
book: a significant number of worldwide cultures tell of huge giants that once
lived among us - the 12-15-foot-tall entities, and maybe a few taller ones, too.
They were a marauding, violent breed, with cannibalistic tendencies, but who
also seemed possessed of a certain degree of intelligence that allowed them to
fashion a degree of clothing, crude tools, weapons, homes and dens (very often
in caves or underground) and perhaps even primitive rafts and boats.
Of course, much of this flies in the face of accepted wisdom that
Gigantopithecus, the True Giant, was just a huge ape. The theory that it could
have been something more - something much more - is a controversial one. But
it's a theory that Hall and Coleman back up with a wealth of fascinating
accounts from times past that encompass Asia, North America, Europe, South America and numerous other places, too. And, in
doing so, the authors make a very good, thought-provoking case.
In fact, they are clear on the issue that dismissing Gigantopithecus as
a gigantic ape is way off-track: "...the fossils that have been found for
this particular giant primate have been attributed not to a giant man but,
erroneously, to a giant ape...Some people have suggested that the fossils,
known as Gigantopithecus, are gigantic men. We believe that view will one day
be proven correct."
And it's with this viewpoint in mind that the pair provides us with
some truly fascinating accounts that actually sit very well within just such a
scenario. And it's a point of view that provoked a lot of graphic imagery as I
was reading the book.
Indeed, one of the things that really hit home upon digesting True
Giants is how much of our own history we appear to have lost and forgotten
- or that we have simply chosen to relegate to the realm of fantasy. Priceless
tales of times long-past when gigantic beast-men roamed the world, perhaps
competing with us for food, water, and a place to call home, fill the pages of
this book.
But, numerous cases from the last couple of centuries and even up to
the present day suggest that these huge, lumbering beast-men have not gone the
way of the Dodo, but may still be found deep in the ancient forests, and the
hard-to-access, huge mountain peaks that continue to dominate the wilder parts
of our world.
In conclusion, True Giants is a book that is as groundbreaking
as it is thought-provoking and paradigm-challenging. Hall and Coleman detail a
remarkable theory - and a rich history, too - that serves to explain the many
and varied accounts of huge, hairy giants in our midst. In the process of doing
so, they weave a complex and fascinating story of something gigantic, something
definitively monstrous but equally definitively man-like too, and something
that has lived alongside us for so long, carefully shaping and sculpting our
legends and folklore as it does so.
And, it's very difficult to read True Giants and not come
away with a deep sense of regret and loss, borne out of the probability that
the full, fantastic history of these Goliath-like man-apes - and their ancient
connections to, and interactions with, the Human Race - will likely never be
known to us. However, unless or until we do learn more about not just the true
nature of Gigantopithecus, but about our fog-shrouded history too, True Giants
represents without doubt the best treatment we have thus far on this
fascinating and engaging subject.
Nick Redfern is the author of many books, including the newly-published Keep
Out.
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