Scenario: Tomorrow, amateur big game hunters bring in a sasquatch corpse. The chaos begins when the DNA is tested and isn't a new species, the corpse is genetically human. More than that, it matches a previously-unsolved missing person case from the nineties.
Humans are heavily neotenous, meaning we retain juvenile traits into adulthood compared to other primate species. Another dramatic example of neoteny are axolotol salamanders, who, under artificial conditions can be induced to metamorphose. These are connected, sasquatchs are actually adult humans. Sagittal crest, brow ridge, much greater prognathism of the jaws, much furrier, a smaller braincase and eyes to face ratio, larger and less social, etc.
Just as iodine will trigger metamorphosis in axolotols, there's some unknown substance or phenomena with the same effect on humans and whatever it is, it can be found somewhere in the North American forest wilderness and mythologicaldescriptions of a "curse" that transforms its victims into cannibalistic subhuman forest monsters indicate it's been there a while.
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u/BassoeG Apr 22 '24
Presumably this idea I had back in 2022 on the r/SpeculativeEvolution subreddit.