The so-called "DNA evidence" that was supposed to prove the existence of the legendary beast Bigfoot turned out to be mixed with that of a possum, according to researchers who studied the genetic material.The "Bigfoot DNA" also included human material and DNA from a source that was "inconclusive," said researchers at the University of Minnesota, according to a group of hunters that claims to have found a dead Bigfoot in the woods of northern Georgia and who sent pieces of the animal's flesh to the university for analysis.

The hunters, who operate a Web site called SearchingForBigfoot.com, revealed the findings at a press conference Friday in Palo Alto. They also showed photos of what they claim is the deceased Sasquatch, stuffed into what appeared to be an old refrigerator. For the most part, the head resembled a rubber gorilla mask. "It just looks like a costume with some fake guts thrown on top for effect," said Jeffrey Meldrum, an Idaho State University professor, in an interview with Scientific American.

The body "weighs over five hundred pounds" and "is male," the group insisted on its Web site. "The feet are flat and similar to human feet," the description continued. "The creature is seven feet, seven inches tall," it said.

The Bigfoot hunters claim they are keeping the body at an undisclosed location until a full autopsy can be performed.

Internet records show that SearchingForBigfoot.com was registered to a California-based company called The Bigfoot Hunters in 2006 by Robert Schmalzbach, a Java programmer from the Silicon Valley area.

Word of the purported discovery resounded across the Web last week, with everyone from the New York Times to obscure bloggers weighing in. But rather than prove the existence of Bigfoot, it appears that what Schmalzbach and company really demonstrated was that, in the Internet era, there's sucker born every nanosecond.