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Predicting the distribution of Sasquatch in western North America: anything goes with ecological niche modelling
Abstract
The availability of user‐friendly software and publicly available biodiversity databases has led to a rapid increase in the use of ecological niche modelling to predict species distributions. A potential source of error in publicly available data that may affect the accuracy of ecological niche models (ENMs), and one that is difficult to correct for, is incorrect (or incomplete) taxonomy. Here we remind researchers of the need for careful evaluation of database records prior to use in modelling, especially when the presence of cryptic species is suspected or many records are based on indirect evidence. To draw attention to this potential problem, we construct ENMs for the North American Sasquatch (i.e. Bigfoot). Specifically, we use a large database of georeferenced putative sightings and footprints for Sasquatch in western North America, demonstrating how convincing environmentally predicted distributions of a taxon’s potential range can be generated from questionable site‐occurrence data. We compare the distribution of Bigfoot with an ENM for the black bear, Ursus americanus, and suggest that many sightings of this cryptozoid may be cases of mistaken identity.
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“These findings are also in agreement with the results of previous studies by Blight (2005) and Lozier et al. (2009), which similarly identified positive associations between bears and bigfoot using different methods.”
From Bigfoot: If it's there, could it be a bear? (2024) · cites this paper as Lozier et al. (2009)
In the citing paper
“Previous analyses have identified a correlation between 'sasquatch' or 'bigfoot' sightings and black bear populations in the Pacific Northwest using ecological niche models and simple models of expected animal sightings.”
From Bigfoot: If it's there, could it be a bear? (2024) · cites this paper as Lozier et al. (2009)
In the citing paper
“The findings of the present study are perhaps closer to those of Lozier et al. (2009), who reported a high ecological niche model overlap statistic (i.e. a significant association between bear and sasquatch geographic distributions).”
From Bigfoot: If it's there, could it be a bear? (2024) · cites this paper as Lozier et al. (2009)
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Cited by
Seven Shortfalls that Beset Large-Scale Knowledge of Biodiversity
Hortal, J., de Bello, F., Diniz-Filho, J. A. F., Lewinsohn, T. M., Lobo, J. M., & Ladle, R. J. (2015) · Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics · doi:10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-112414-054400 · Cited by 1,743
Bigfoot: If it's there, could it be a bear?
Foxon, F. (2024) · Journal of Zoology · doi:10.1111/jzo.13148 · Cited by 2
Metadata
- Authors
- Lozier, J. D., Aniello, P., & Hickerson, M. J.
- Venue
- Journal of Biogeography
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2009-08-19
- Volume
- 36
- Issue
- 9
- Pages
- 1623-1627
- ISSN
- 0305-0270
- 1365-2699
- Cited by
- 133
- References
- 0
- Language
- en
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- CoChat. (2026). Citation check: Predicting the distribution of Sasquatch in western North America: anything goes with ecological niche modelling. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1111/j.1365-2699.2009.02152.x
- The paper
- Lozier, J. D., Aniello, P., & Hickerson, M. J. (2009). Predicting the distribution of Sasquatch in western North America: anything goes with ecological niche modelling. Journal of Biogeography. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2699.2009.02152.x
Data sources
Bibliographic data: Semantic Scholar, OpenAlex, Crossref.
Contains information from the Semantic Scholar Academic Graph Datasets, made available under the ODC Attribution License (ODC-BY 1.0).
Semantic Scholar’s data is described in: Kinney, R., et al. (2023). The Semantic Scholar Open Data Platform. arXiv:2301.10140.
