Right. "local culture has myth around mysterious secretive humanoid creatures" really shouldn't alter our priors at all. If this investigation is justified, it

Right. "local culture has myth around mysterious secretive humanoid creatures" really shouldn't alter our priors at all. If this investigation is justified, it's because of the fossil record. The folk story makes a cute human interest angle, and if the researchers do find anything, it will make a fantastic stick to beat them with: "the Lio people have known about this ape species for hundreds of years, why didn't anyone just ask them?"