Birth of primate comparative anatomy

Abstract In 1698, a creature with a perplexing mix of human and “ape” features died in London. Brought back to England by merchants who had acquired it during a trading mission to West Africa, it attracted the attention of the Royal Society, and after the death of what we now know was a juvenile chimpanzee, Edward Tyson, a distinguished physician/anatomist, was commissioned to undertake its dissection. Tyson, who was assisted by William Cowper, prepared a detailed written and graphic description of their meticulous dissection, and this forms the major part of his 1699 publication Orang‐outang sive Homo sylvestris : or The Anatomy of a Pygmie compared with that of a Monkey , an Ape , and a Man . Tyson records the many ways his “pygmie” resembled, and differed from, modern humans, including acute assessments of its brain and pelvic anatomy. Tyson's monograph is a text‐book example of the comparative method. He, and it, deserve more recognition.