Jeff Meldrum

He began his presentation by saying he appreciates enthusiasm, but cautions against losing objectivity and wants to see critical thinking take hold with reports. He has just returned from China for filming an episode of Monsterquest to investigate the Yeren. The origins of Bigfoot were discussed, as to whether it is Gigantopithecus or not (Meldrum says it is at least a strong candidate). Dr. Meldrum hooked up with Zhou Guoxing to research the Yeren, which lives in the Hubai and Shennogjia Provinces where there are vertical mountains (!). Grover Krantz also went there in Southern China several years ago on an expedition. According to Dr. Guoxing, the Wildman is not the same as Sasquatch so far as size (it is a little shorter, ala Orang Pendek). Shennong was a God interested in herbs in the mountains, and built a ladder or scaffold to reach the herbs, prompting the name Shennongjia, which means "Shennong's Ladder." Meldrum's working hypothesis is that the Giganto is our North American Ape, and Meldrum went into the work of Russ Ciochon and his appearance on Giganto: The Real King Kong. Dr. Meldrum commented that the fossil record is biased when it comes to Giganto. An interesting observation was made about an orangutan which took a catfish out of a net and ate it, and other orang followed suit. Meldrum also said that there is a bit of a misconception about the entire Bering Straits Land Bridge being a frozen tundra, when in fact some parts of it were temperate jungle. Dr. Guoxing is not convinced that the Yeren and Giganto are the same thing, and the official position of the scientific community is cool and somewhat nonchalant. Meldrum showed a slide of a Chinese footprint cast which resembles a cast made in Washington State by Paul Freeman. Meldrum discusses the Anthropoidipes Ameriborealis, the North American Ape footprint, the archetype of which is the Patterson/Gimlin Movie casts. Meldrum said he would eventually put all his virtual cast collection online.

Presentation rating: **** 1/2 out of *****