Why the Hairy Blokes don't use tools

[Wolf]

This is the first draft of an article I will be writing up for my site and uploading to YouTube. Before I go further with it I would appreciate member’s comments, thoughts, and suggestions. Thanks.

I have often heard it proclaimed that ‘Bigfoot is a descendant of Gigantopithicus’ camp because he does not use tools.

It is my belief he is hominid, an early version of H. Erectus or similar that at sometime branched off the evolutionary path from us… or more likely, we from him.

The question then forms, when did this branching occur? How could an evolutionary roll of the dice someday form such a divergent species? What caused this divergence?

I propose the answer may be literally at our fingertips…

Perhaps one day, a very long time ago, a very early version of Homo erectus was born with a slight disfigurement to the skeletal structure in her hands. Her kind were already special, with the developmental advantage over other animals of grasping fingers that could propel them through the branches, plucking fruit off the highest branches and prising small protein meals out of their holes.

But this evolutionary roll of the dice expressed by this particular ancestor would turn out to be uniquely advantageous for it meant for the first time an animal could position its thumb opposite to its fingers, giving it much more control over whatever it held.

Perhaps one day her deformity caused a large male to attack her in an effort to drive her away from the ‘normal’ members of his troop. Possibly she then did something never done before? She picked up a stick with which to better defend herself. But rather than swinging it as was usually done, she held it close, the disability of her strange thumbs allowing her to hold it for the first time as a thrusting spear.

Now at this time limited tool use is not unheard of. For Millenia these animals had used their grasping fingers to hurl rocks, or pound shells, nuts, or even bones for their marrow… or to throw sticks to bring down flying birds. But this time the opposing thumb allowed the stick to be far more dangerous… instead of swinging at her assailant, our ancestor (because of the grip allowed by an opposing thumb) poked him instead? He could have even rushed her in an attempt to get inside the expected swing of the stick, impaling himself with his own forward momentum onto her weapon.

Over time her descendants learnt how useful this sudden advance in stick use method was, learning to select the straightest and therefore strongest sticks, sharpening the points, even eventually developing methods for hurling the sticks at great distance.

But spear use was not the only advantage for this new opposable thumb. It allowed a better grip on stones as well… it was not long, by Palaeolithic standards, before her descendants learnt they could fashion stones into sharp edges by chipping them against other stones, Making a wide variety of tools for shaping spears, chopping wood, working animal skins, even sewing said skins into protective clothing.

What happened to the ‘normal’ ones, those who continued to evolve without this opposable thumb?
Was it here when the divergence occurred?
What would one day become Homo sapiens sapiens evolved alongside thier technology, improving it at a rapid rate, while the others, having no tools to rely on increased their chances of survival by growing larger, stronger, faster, as did many other genuses, like canids, felines, and others during the following epochs.

Indeed, is this why even today, Sasquatch do not use tools? Without a truly opposable thumb their tools never evolved beyond a handy rock or branch to pound with or to throw?
Does this also explain their reported method of throwing?… in a sidearm, swinging motion rather than overarm?
Try it yourself… throw a rock or ball without using your thumb to balance your fingers in your grip.
Holding the object in this way it is far more accurate to use an underarm or sidearm throwing motion than it is to ‘peg’ or toss it overarm.
A spear would be impossible to throw with any accuracy without an opposing thumb.

Many have proposed that Sasquatch is not a relic hominid because there is no record of them being observed using tools, therefor he must be something else… an ape of some kind, likely descended from gigantopithecus.

I propose that he is our brother, who without the tremendous advantage of control over grasped objects was forced to evolve naturally, while we evolved alongside our technology, improving it and in the process steadily striding towards a modern world of cities and concrete, while Sasquatch watched from the shadows of the forests and mountains, ever curious and likely very cautious of their strange brokers with the opposable thumbs…

[Yowie bait]

Well its as good a theory as any Wolf and a good read.

[Simon M]

It's well written and well thought out. It may be that these things are just so strong that they simply never developed extensive tool use? They had no need to. Just an idea.

[AL Pitman]

There is a report from Danger falls near Armidale nsw really spelt as Dangar from 2010 in the AYR reports section that is somewhat in line with this theory.
As the witness stated when he sited the hairy man . The creature appeared to be stacking rocks and throwing some in the direction of nearby children.
I attended this site not long after the report was made for a look around and I did find stones just of the walking trail that appeared to have been fashioned into a crude type of hammer tool , almost like a stone axe just not as advanced in its design.
I left the stones there as it is a national park and not knowing their origins they may have been of cultural significance.
I took some pictures at the time on a camera long since placed in storage hmmmmmmmmmmmm and so the search begins for the camera, so many unopened moving boxes Lol.

[Simon M]

Stone tools have been in use for millennia so it's not surprising that these creatures would be familiar with basic things like hand axes, or even just using rocks as projectiles or as a means of splitting open animal bones, rotten logs, etc.

I don't doubt that they use sophisticated hunting and even trapping techniques in order to feed themselves, but I also think they'd have less need of actual technology, as we'd understand it, due to their natural strength, speed, endurance and athleticism. They're also incredibly observant so they'd be more aware of potential game or potential threats. I think they literally live by their wits and their natural abilities. Why expend time and energy to build a trap or a weapon when you can outrun most things and overpower them physically, and you're significantly smarter than the other creatures you're competing with for food?

I think their prodigious strength and other physical capabilities have rendered the need for advanced tool use irrelevant to them - that's just my opinion, of course, not a provable hypothesis. The reason they've not come to rely on technology as we have is because they're already perfectly adapted to their environment. We - unlike most living things - change the whole environment to suit our needs.

[Hominidhunter]

Hi Simon, love that thought, or could it just be they use tools as little as chimpanzees do, just enough to open a mussel or get termites out of their mound, again , it depends on the side of the fence we sit, ape, man, monkey, or shape shifting scrub turkey’s ,

[Simon M]

Very true!

I lean towards the chimp comparison you've made...then again...that scrub turkey theory is pretty convincing...

[Hominidhunter]

Simon, scub turkeys beat paradolia ever time, I mean , I can take a photo of a shadow in the bush and yell yowie, or I can take a photo of scrub turkey and yell , shape shifting , disappearing, predator like blury image yowie.

[adventurer]

Simon, scub turkeys beat paradolia ever time, I mean , I can take a photo of a shadow in the bush and yell yowie, or I can take a photo of scrub turkey and yell , shape shifting , disappearing, predator like blury image yowie.

oh, so thats what you do, take a photo of the bush and call it a yowie.
Dont make smart ass remarks on other peoples beliefs.
I dont see you have gotten any further then any of us.

[Ray Doherty]

Who is too say they dont use tools? Chimps & Bonobos do, Gorillas do, Orangutans do, humans do, early humans did
no one has observed them in real time to know the proper answer to that question.

[Wolf]

Who is too say they dont use tools? Chimps & Bonobos do, Gorillas do, Orangutans do, humans do, early humans did
no one has observed them in real time to know the proper answer to that question.

The title is a simplification. They (like other primates) DO use tools but for some reason said tool use never progressed beyond basic unshaped rocks and sticks. The theory proposes more complex tool use did not develop because they lacked a thumb that was 'truly opposable' and therefor lacked the gripping ability required to manipulate said tools with the precise dexterity required to (for example) knapp rocks into sharp edges.

[bassplyr]

it's a decent theory. apes don't have complex motor groups in their nerve bundles to do finesse intricate or fine articulation of their hands and fingers. it's why apes can't play Debussy on the pain or speak verbally by controlling minutely their vocal chords to make words. it's also why they have seemingly great strength. they can't control how many muscle fibers fire off to move a finger or arm below a certain number which prevents fine motor control. good for climbing trees. bad for tool making. humans are the opposite we have small motor groups which prevent large amounts of muscle fibers firing off under most circumstances. so in exchange for our muscles never being able to fire a majority of their fibers we get fine motor control.

the real question is why did we develop small motor groups. some say it was indeed our hands and opposable thumbs that spurred evolution to develop small motor groups. and with it probably greater intelligence as a side effect.

so your theory has merit.

[Hominidhunter]

Adventure, sorry, I’ve never posted a photo of the bush and claimed a blurry image as anything, it would seem only people who have blury photos or no evidence they can back up do that,

[Black]

Wolf,

They use tools.

[Wolf]

Wolf,

They use tools.

See reply to Ray above.

The interesting thought is: humans became so reliant upon tools they stopped evolving 'naturally', instead putting that 'evolutionary energy' into the tools... to the point humans are now evolving INTO tools themselves

[Wolf]

Wolf,

They use tools.

See reply to Ray above.

The interesting thought is: humans became so reliant upon tools they stopped evolving 'naturally', instead putting that 'evolutionary energy' into the tools... to the point humans are now evolving INTO tools themselves

Of course, some have already completed that process...

[themanfromglad]

I saw a large plastic open ended barrel that was normally used by the local water district in the run off stream from their dam to either prevent erosion or measure stream flow, that had been carried a couple of miles from the stream with the stream gravel still in it, so that it could be used as a rain barrel. There was no sign of human activity at the point where the barrel was placed at the base of a cliff. However, in the evening I received a return wood knock from high up on that cliff, at a point that was directly above the rain barrel. With gravel, the barrel would have weighed a hundreds pounds. There were no roads nor trails up to the rain barrel. Only a large bolder or two. It appeared that a Bigfoot had repurposed his loot.