What's Next, the Bigfoot Genome Project?

I'm starting to see what it takes to get a science story on the breaking news column of Philly.com. This exciting bigfoot story is from AP, and somewhere I think something was misconstrued. It's possible the AP writer is in on the joke and trying to be funny too, but it's hard to tell:

"If the Yeti is real and somebody has found bits of their hair, you should be able to tell from the DNA in the hair if this is actually a Yeti," said Mark Thomas, a professor of evolutionary genetics at University College London. He is not connected to the Bigfoot project.

But Thomas was unsure how likely it was anyone might have actual Yeti hairs. Some scientists theorize Yetis are either a distinct hominid species, or a mix between homo sapiens and Neanderthals or other species. There is already evidence of interbreeding between homo sapiens and Neanderthals.

"If Yetis have survived for the last 30,000 years, they have probably had a pretty miserable existence and are a small population vulnerable to extinction," Thomas said. "It's not as insane an idea as many might think, but the chances are pretty small."

Oh you Brits and your naughty sense of humour! How will you identify Yeti DNA? Would you compare it to the OxBridge Yeti DNA database? You all deserve a spanking - especially Mark Thomas.

The last line is good:

He said previous tests on supposed Yeti hairs have already been done, "and they turned out to be from a bison."

Well, anyone could make that mistake.