page_title: Steller's sea ape
section_title: Research history
hierarchical_section_title: Steller's sea ape / Research history
caption_attribution_description: English: Drawing collected by Felix Platter, to be used in Historiae animalium. The first volume contained drawings of fish, shellfish, crabs and other creatures of the sea. The drawings were made by several artists, mostly anonymous. Nederlands: Tekeningen verzameld door Felix Platter, voor gebruik in de encyclopedie Historiae animalium (1551–1558). Het eerste volume bevat afbeeldingen van vissen, krabben, kreeften, schelpdieren en andere zeewezens.. De tekeningen werden gemaakt door verschillende kunstenaars, veelal anoniem.
context_page_description: Steller's sea ape is a purported marine mammal, observed by German zoologist Georg Steller on August 10, 1741, around the Shumagin Islands in Alaska. The animal was described as being around five feet, or one and a half meters long, with a dog-like head, long drooping whiskers; an elongated but robust body, thick fur coat, and no limbs but for two tail fins much like a shark. He described the creature as being playful and inquisitive, much like a monkey. After observing it for two hours, he attempted to shoot and collect the creature, but missed, and the creature swam away. A similar creature was seen in June, 1965, by sailor Miles Smeeton and company off Atka Island, Alaska.
  There have been four attempts to scientifically classify the creature, described as Simia marina, Siren cynocephala, Trichechus hydropithecus, and Manatus simia. Steller most likely simply misidentified a northern fur seal.
context_section_description: All Steller's writings regarding his expedition were published posthumously, but most of his writings were lost. His account of the creature was detailed in his diary, published in 2 installments by Prussian zoologist Peter Simon Pallas in 1781 and 1793. He also made a small note in his most famous book De Bestiis Marinus, calling it an "imperfect account" for lack of a specimen:
  I describe the traces of a certain unknown animal upon the island of Shumagin, and I insert a sketch of a sea ape, and with this imperfect account I must content myself and others.
  Steller assigned this creature to "Simia marina"–which was illustrated in Swiss naturalist Conrad Gessner's book Historia animalium–based on its resemblance, strange behavior, rapid movements, and playfulness. However, the man who first reported "S. marina", Italian biologist Gerolamo Cardano, said it was likely a snake, and Gessner said that it had a covering more like a turtle, and the creature was reportedly green and hairless overall. At least 5 years had passed since Steller last saw or read a description of Gessner's sea ape to when he had described his account.
  In 1792, German naturalist Johann Julius Walbaum scientifically described Steller's sea ape as Siren cynocephala. In 1800, on recommendation by Welsh naturalist Thomas Pennant, English zoologist George Shaw classified it as a manatee as Trichechus hydropithecus. In 1815, German zoologist Johann Karl Wilhelm Illiger also described it as a manatee as Manatus simia, but this work in particular was later called a "worthless conglomeration" of sirenian and cetacean species by American mammalogist Joel Asaph Allen in 1882, with new species listed for seemingly no reason without description or justification.
  In 1805, German naturalist Wilhelm Gottlieb Tilesius von Tilenau noticed that Steller's sea ape very closely resembled the Northern fur seal. Similarly, in 1936, Norwegian zoologist Leonhard Stejneger said Steller likely observed a bachelor fur seal, as fur seals in a playful mood have been known to exhibit the observed behaviors, and swim with their fore-flipper tucked in, which may have given the impression of completely lacking forelimbs in a low light setting. Also, Steller had made his account before he had ever encountered a fur seal.
caption: Simia marina in Conrad Gessner's Historia animalium
exif: {}