I remember a certain macaque that took to walking upright and also did the rounds in the media. I think people like to gawp at things like this due to an underlying fascination with the anthropomorphism of it, rather than to seek any great insights.

What interests me is the gliding gait similar to that observed in sasquatch, rather than the human plantigrade motion – sasquatch are in my opinion great apes that exhibit quadrapedalism as juveniles, but due to the impracticalities of their adult size take to bipedialism, which they are better designed for than gorillas.

This should point even more strongly to sasquatch/bigfoot/skunk ape/yeti/mande burung etc being great apes, particularly if you add the weight of observed behaviour such as nest building/wood knocking/stone throwing and other behaviour akin to other great apes.

Of course a gorilla is going to waddle or walk differently. With a gorilla, we are talking about an animal that has not evolved full bipedalism to the extent that a Sasquatch like Patty seems to have done. A creature like Patty has obviously evolved to be a fully bipedal animal and therefore it is going to display a great many adaptations in order to accomplish this such as longer legs, a different pelvic structure, different spinal alignment and head placement, among others.

So yeah, a Sasquatch, if we are to assume it is an animal adapted to bipedalism, is going to have longer legs and a smoother walk. From what we see in the PG footage, if we take that and other reports as indicative of typical Sasquatch locomotion, then we are looking at a creature evolved along a different path than gorillas and pointing out those differences is a moot point in my opinion. Comparing the difference in leg length of a bipedal, upright animal like Patty with an animal that has evolved to be predominantly quadrupedal like a gorilla that happens to have picked up the habit of walking around, is like comparing apples and oranges. Differences are to be expected.

What I think is important here and is the reason this comparison was proposed is because of all of the similarities the two seem to have. The thick musculature, broad shoulders and neck, seemingly similar hair pattern, and the sagittal crest which is apparent on Patty as well are all hallmarks of a large great ape. If that is what Sasquatch are, then those similarities are important to consider and could give us insight into what Patty is (if anything), and how it may have evolved.

Take all of these similarities and evolve it into a more fully bipedal animal, and you could get something very much like Patty. I think that’s the gist of this post.

Concerning this gorilla, these cases of spontaneous bipedalism in animals is not unheard of. It has happened with chimps and other animals that are not typically bipedal as well. The reasons for the animals doing so are varied. Maybe this gorilla wanted to see over the fence and started walking around more and more often as it got easier. Or maybe it wanted to grab food more easily and keep both hands free. Maybe it is just doing it for the heck of it, who knows.

Whatever the reason, this was a learned behavior, not something it’s species has evolved to do. As a result, gorillas lack the skeletal structure, foot structure, and overall morphology to walk as smoothly as something like humans or what Patty seems to be. There are a great many adaptations that converge to create a bipedal animal, so this gorilla is not ever going to be quite as good a walker as a person or Patty. I wouldn’t be too surprised to find other gorillas that have learned to do this, but bipedalism to this extent in gorillas is still a learned behavior and not something their bodies are really adapted to do.

Anyway, overall a great discussion so far.

My impression is that the Ambam is mimicking humans and that he waddles only slightly too look more like a man walking and succeeds admirably. Does this give him a higher status?

Then there’s this little fellow, so natural!

I’m struck by the way the gorilla lifts its feet when it walks. It doesn’t seem to want to hyper extend its toes too much and the trailing foot lifts abruptly presumably before too much flexing can take place. The closest gait I can get is that it appears to walk like that of a human toddler–but with more natural expertise. Although the Patterson creature doesn’t walk like this (it appears to walk more like an adult human), it does seem to have the same abrupt lift of the trailing foot–as if it too is avoiding to much hyper-flexing of the toes at the end of the stride.

This is fascinating and it does appear to support the idea that the Patterson/Gimlin creature as a unknown primate.