Talk:Duarte Pacheco Pereira

Chimpanzees
Although the claim about Pereira describing chimpanzees using tools is confirmed by some sources, like this one for example, the only possible description of an ape in Esmeraldo de Situ Orbis (1506) is in Chapter 33 which is about Sierra Leone and where Pereira says:
 * Here, as well, are wild men, whom the ancients called satyrs. They are covered with hairs almost as coarse as the bristles of a pig; they seem human and lie with their wives after our fashion, but instead of speaking they shout when they are hurt. As they dwell in the fastnesses of this Serra they can rarely be captured except when very young. I omit many other things concerning them in order to avoid prolixity.

It's not entirely clear that Pereira is actually describing a chimpanzee and there is no mention of them using tools. Alansplodge (talk) 16:11, 19 January 2021 (UTC)