The Cryptid Zoo: Missing Link

"Missing link" is a term used for the one or more species of ape-men presumed to exist somewhere in the fossil record in order to complete the evolutionary chain between the more intelligent, bipedal apes such as Gigantopithecus and the earliest primitive species of humans. For many years, researchers have suggested that Bigfoot or hairy humanoids in general may represent one or more surviving "missing link" species.

The fossil record as a whole is rather spotty, so most scientists don't think that the missing "missing link" fossils present any real problem or challenge to the theory that humans evolved from apes. There are presumably countless individual species that we will never find fossils of.

Recently, the idea has surfaced that the hominid/primate fossil record is complete enough that we don't need to look anymore for a missing link. Many scientists today think that there is no real gap between the most intelligent apes in the fossil record and the most primitive types of people in the fossil record. Along with this idea, explanations for Bigfoot and his fellow creatures have shifted in two directions: some researchers favor the idea that Bigfoot is a bipedal ape instead of an ape-man, while others favor the suggestion of a primitive, very hairy human such as Homo erectus. A rare few researchers favor the idea that hairy humanoids are hybrids of some sort, such as the humanzee or possibly hybrids between humans and neanderthals.

You can find out more about the Missing Link from the following sources:

Clark, Jerome and Coleman, Loren. Cryptozoology A-Z. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1999. Page 43

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Missing Links Primate Center

Newton, Michael. Encyclopedia of Cryptozoology: A Global Guide to Hidden Animals and Their Pursuers. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2005. Page 128

Oliver: A Missing Link?

Wikipedia, The. Missing Link