A highly respected evolutionary biologist has sparked headlines after claiming that scientists once secretly created a human-chimpanzee hybrid!
While musing about the possibility for such a 'humanzee' to exist, Gordon Gallup told the UK newspaper the Sun that not only could it be done, but that it had already been accomplished.
According to the renowned researcher, who said that he was told this tale by his former professor, the stunning scientific endeavor occurred in the 1920's at a facility in Florida devoted to studying primates.
Incredibly, Gallup recalled, the hybrid creature was successfully created, via artificial insemination, in the womb of a female chimp who subsequently gave birth the humanzee.
A short time after that, however, the scientists overseeing the project began to have grave concerns about the implications of what they had done and decided to euthanize the hybrid animal.
Although the story told by Gallup came secondhand, he expressed confidence in its veracity, noting that the professor who imparted the tale was a "credible scientist."
As one can imagine, the primate center in question, which is still a functioning facility, strongly denied doing any work surrounding the development of a humanzee.
Although, considering that the project purportedly took place nearly a century ago and was ostensibly shrouded in secrecy, it stands to reason that the story might be news to modern day administrators as well.
What's your take on Gallup's jaw-dropping revelation? Is it merely an urban legend he's come to believe or could there be a kernel of truth to the tale? Let us know at the Coast to Coast AM Facebook page.
Source: Daily Mail