Object Status:
Unlocated
Accession Date:
N.d.
Primary Source Reference:
"Walk through the Phil[adelphi]a Museum" (1805-1806), p. 8
Additional Source Text:
"Being nearest allied to the orang-autang . . . it is without a tail, having instead there of a piece a of Skin like a wart, not the 1/8 of an Inch long. It walks erect, is very docile and tractible -- It comes from Algiers and other parts of Africa, and very probably belonged to Eygypt, as there is a fable of a battle of a little race of men with the Craines of that Country."
In his 1st Lecture (ca. 1799), Peale wrote: "This Animal very nearly resembles the Pigmy Ape, the only deviation is, that it has a small appearance of a tail, but so small, that without a critical examination, it cannot be seen. . . . I had this ape alive, it was good natured and not of the mischievous disposition common to the Monkies, it very commonly walked erect. It came from Algiers." Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University Archives, coll. 40)
Notes:
This animal was probably a bonobo (Pan paniscus), also historically called the pygmy chimpanzee. On November 17, 1810 the Museum received a live pygmy ape from Lau. Van Nes. Peale Museum Accessions Book, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, p. 52
Specimen Type:
Dead/preserved
Peale's Common Name:
Pygmy ape
Current Common Name:
Bonobo
Current Scientific Name
Pan paniscus
