Edward Tyson

Title of the book Orang-outang, sive, Homo sylvestris: ...

Edward Tyson (* 1650 in Clevedon , Somerset , † August 1, 1708 in London ) was a British doctor and zoologist .

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Edward Tyson studied medicine at Oxford and Cambridge and became a member of the Royal Society . In addition to his medical work, he also devoted himself to medical and zoological research. In 1680 he published his studies on a porpoise ( Phocaena or The Anatomy of a Porpess ), at that time the most accurate description of a whale . Other studies included peccaries , rattlesnakes , opossums, and earthworms , among others . The best known is his 1699 published work " orang-outang, sive, Homo sylvestris: or, The anatomy of a Pygmie Compared with did of a monkey to ape, and a man. In which he for the first time the physique of apes of the Comparing people and making a list of similarities and differences. His so-called orang-outang was actually a chimpanzee , the skeleton of which can still be seen in a London museum. Tyson's work remained authoritative for over a century, as did Thomas Henry Huxley , who did the Consistently involved people in the theory of evolution in the 19th century , praised his work in Evidence as to Man's Place in Nature as a model of scientific accuracy.

In addition to his zoological work, Tyson also devoted himself to human medical research and was director of a hospital in London. He died in 1708 at the age of 57.

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