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Orangutan skeleton, 19th century
Orangutan skeleton, 19th-century illustration. The orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus and Pongo abelii) consists of two species of great ape found in Borneo and Sumatra. In the 19th century only a few specimens were brought to Europe or the USA, and it wasn't until the 1920s that zoo populations were established. The anatomy and taxonomy of the time (showing the orangutan as an upright biped) was established using preserved specimens and skeletons. This illustration was named in the 1850s as being a specimen of 'Pongo wurmbii'. The name 'wurmbii' is now given to a subspecies of orangutan found in south-western Borneo (Pongo pygmaeus wurmbii). Artwork published in 1856.
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