Authors J. D. Lozier, P. Aniello and M. J. Hickerson remind us, in a 2009 editorial for the Journal of Biogeography that :
“[…] very sensible-looking, well-performing (based on AUC and threshold tests) ENMs [Ecological Niche Models] can be constructed from questionable observation data.“
They demonstrate by building an Ecological Niche Model to predict the distribution of Sasquatch (Bigfoot) in western North America.
“[…] we use a large database of georeferenced putative sightings and footprints for Sasquatch in western North America, demonstrating how convincing environmentally predicted distributions of a taxon’s potential range can be generated from questionable site-occurrence data.”
See: ‘Predicting the distribution of Sasquatch in western North America: anything goes with ecological niche modelling’ in the Journal of Biogeography, Volume 36, Issue 9, September 2009, pp. 1623–1627