(Historic) Dmitri Donskoy
CHIEF OF THE CHAIR OF BIOMECHANICS AT THE USSR CENTRAL INSTITUTE OF PHYSICAL CULTURE IN MOSCOW, USSR
A formal academic study of the Patterson film was conducted by Dmitri Donskoy, Chief of the Dept. of Biomechanics at the USSR Central Institute of Physical Culture, and later associated with Moscow's Darwin Museum (Daegling, 45). Donskoy concluded the creature was non-human based on its weight, and especially its gait, which Donskoy judged would be difficult if not impossible for a human to replicate. He inferred the film's subject was weighty from the ponderous momentum he observed in the movements of its arms and legs, in the sagging of the knee as weight came onto it, and in the flatness of the foot. Its gait he considered non-artificial because it was confident and unwavering, "neatly expressive," and well-coordinated, and yet non-human because its arm motion and glide resembled a cross-country skier's. Krantz describes Donskoy's conclusion as being that the film depicts "a very massive animal that is definitely not a human being" (Krantz, 92).
