Case file · Cryptid
Tulp's 'Indian satyr'
In 1641 the Amsterdam anatomist Nicolaes Tulp, famous from Rembrandt's 'Anatomy Lesson', described a 'Satyrus indicus' or 'orang-outang' brought from Angola, one of the first scientific descriptions of an ape.
1641 CE · 52.37, 4.89 · status: explained
The account
Tulp's 'Observationes Medicae' showed an upright, human-like animal and linked it to the satyrs of the ancients and the 'wild men of the woods' reported from the East Indies. His animal, brought from Angola despite the 'Indian' label, was most likely a chimpanzee; some scholars have suggested a bonobo.
The sceptical view
An early step in replacing wild-man and satyr legends with real apes, though Tulp's picture made the animal look more human than it was.