Modeling the distribution of sasquatch - the first published study using ENMTools

Lozier, Aniello, and Hickerson just published a paper in the Journal of Biogeography in which they use sasquatch sightings and footprints to model the distribution of this elusive imaginary species. They went one step further and modeled the effects of climate change on sasquatch distributions, showing that our furry friends are only going to become more elusive with time. Finally, they used ENMTools to demonstrate that sasquatch distributions were statistically indistinguishable from those of the black bear, suggesting that many of the bigfoot sightings may have been a case of mistaken identity.

Just to put a punchline on the whole thing, the public response to the New Scientist article about the study has led to a rush of public comments claiming that the study is biased due to the a priori assumption that sasquatch isn't real.

The ENMTools web site is getting ready for launch

For anyone out there who read our Evolution paper last year, Rich Glor, Michael Turelli, and I are putting together a web site to host the software we made for that study. It's got a bunch of other little bits and bobs in development as well, mostly revolving around different resampling procedures for use with environmental niche modeling. You can find it at www.enmtools.com. I'll post any major developments here as well.

Yes, the site is supposed to look that way.