Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
Editorials & Other Articles
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Desmond Morris, 98, Dies; Explored Humans' Animal Instincts in 'The Naked Ape'
Desmond Morris, 98, Dies; Explored Humans’ Animal Instincts in ‘The Naked Ape’
An English zoologist, he wrote an immensely popular 1967 book arguing that ancient genes, shared with apes, shape our lives. Objections in the scientific world ensued.
Desmond Morris in 1956 with the chimpanzees Congo and Charlie on the show “Zoo Time,” a Granada Television series he hosted about animals at the London Zoo. Desmond Morris Collection/Universal Images Group, via Getty Images
By Douglas Martin
April 20, 2026
Desmond Morris, an English zoologist who used observation, logic and insight to contend in his immensely popular 1967 book, “The Naked Ape,” that humanity, stripped of civilized veneer, is just another species of ape, died on Sunday near Dublin. He was 98. ... His death, at a hospital in the town of Naas, was confirmed by his son, Jason Morris.
In a career that included writing more than four dozen books and 50 scientific papers and presenting 700 television episodes, Dr. Morris used observational powers that he had honed as a zookeeper to study the ways of humans as well as those of animals. His “The Naked Ape: A Zoologist’s Study of the Human Animal,” which sold more than 20 million copies and was translated into 23 languages, argued that ancient genes, shared with apes, shape human behavior.
Dr. Morris offered new interpretations of basic human functions like sleeping, fighting, mating and child-rearing. He noted that humans had evolved not only the biggest brains among primates but also the biggest penises, compared to body size. He said this was one of many sexual adaptations that keep couples sufficiently interested to stay together. ... “To make sex sexier,” he said.
{snip}
Anthropologists said Dr. Morris ignored culture. Linguists said he discounted language. Biologists said he omitted traits that did not further his argument. One Long Island school district banned the book. And opponents of the theory of evolution condemned the book in full.
Dr. Morris’s 1967 book sold more than 20 million copies and was translated into 23 languages. His prolific output helped popularize the study of animal behavior and was sometimes likened to Carl Sagan’s work in astronomy. McGraw-Hill
The paleontologist George Gaylord Simpson, assessing “The Naked Ape” in The New York Times Book Review, questioned Dr. Morris’s basic hypothesis; he argued that after humans diverged from apes in evolutionary history, they could no longer be considered a species of ape. Some of the book’s assertions, Dr. Simpson wrote, were “at their best dubious and at their worst, ludicrous.”
{snip}
Dr. Morris at his studio in Oxford in 2018. He wrote prolifically well into his later years, including books about dogs, cats, horses and soccer players. David Parker/Alamy
{snip}
Dr. Morris’s ideas were novel and memorable, if not always proven. One, in “The Naked Man” (2008), was his explanation for why women are shorter on average than men: They can lie with their noses near their partners’ armpits, he said. The pheromones they thus inhale relax them during lovemaking and, he maintained, trigger ovulation.
Ash Wu and Charlotte Dulany contributed reporting.
An English zoologist, he wrote an immensely popular 1967 book arguing that ancient genes, shared with apes, shape our lives. Objections in the scientific world ensued.
Desmond Morris in 1956 with the chimpanzees Congo and Charlie on the show “Zoo Time,” a Granada Television series he hosted about animals at the London Zoo. Desmond Morris Collection/Universal Images Group, via Getty Images
By Douglas Martin
April 20, 2026
Desmond Morris, an English zoologist who used observation, logic and insight to contend in his immensely popular 1967 book, “The Naked Ape,” that humanity, stripped of civilized veneer, is just another species of ape, died on Sunday near Dublin. He was 98. ... His death, at a hospital in the town of Naas, was confirmed by his son, Jason Morris.
In a career that included writing more than four dozen books and 50 scientific papers and presenting 700 television episodes, Dr. Morris used observational powers that he had honed as a zookeeper to study the ways of humans as well as those of animals. His “The Naked Ape: A Zoologist’s Study of the Human Animal,” which sold more than 20 million copies and was translated into 23 languages, argued that ancient genes, shared with apes, shape human behavior.
Dr. Morris offered new interpretations of basic human functions like sleeping, fighting, mating and child-rearing. He noted that humans had evolved not only the biggest brains among primates but also the biggest penises, compared to body size. He said this was one of many sexual adaptations that keep couples sufficiently interested to stay together. ... “To make sex sexier,” he said.
{snip}
Anthropologists said Dr. Morris ignored culture. Linguists said he discounted language. Biologists said he omitted traits that did not further his argument. One Long Island school district banned the book. And opponents of the theory of evolution condemned the book in full.
Dr. Morris’s 1967 book sold more than 20 million copies and was translated into 23 languages. His prolific output helped popularize the study of animal behavior and was sometimes likened to Carl Sagan’s work in astronomy. McGraw-Hill
The paleontologist George Gaylord Simpson, assessing “The Naked Ape” in The New York Times Book Review, questioned Dr. Morris’s basic hypothesis; he argued that after humans diverged from apes in evolutionary history, they could no longer be considered a species of ape. Some of the book’s assertions, Dr. Simpson wrote, were “at their best dubious and at their worst, ludicrous.”
{snip}
Dr. Morris at his studio in Oxford in 2018. He wrote prolifically well into his later years, including books about dogs, cats, horses and soccer players. David Parker/Alamy
{snip}
Dr. Morris’s ideas were novel and memorable, if not always proven. One, in “The Naked Man” (2008), was his explanation for why women are shorter on average than men: They can lie with their noses near their partners’ armpits, he said. The pheromones they thus inhale relax them during lovemaking and, he maintained, trigger ovulation.
Ash Wu and Charlotte Dulany contributed reporting.
18 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
The baculum
What is a baculum?
The baculum (os penis) is a bone found within the penis of certain mammals, including many primates, rodents, bats, carnivores, and some insectivores. It is an isolated bone, derived from connective tissue and located at the distal end of the penis, above the urethra. Lower mineral density and reduced stiffness of the baculum compared to skeletal bones may help reduce the risk of fracture under strain during copulation, although breakage can sometimes occur.
You mentioned primates, do we humans have such a bone?
No, human males don’t have a baculum! This is surprising because all other apes and Old World monkeys have one, despite a trend towards reduced size of the baculum among the great apes. As fossil primate bacula are extremely rare, it is unknown when the baculum was lost within the hominid lineage. And despite some speculation relating to upright posture and changing mating strategies, why human males lack a baculum remains enigmatic.
What does it look like?
A particularly striking characteristic of the baculum is its extreme anatomical diversity. Bacula of different species come in a multitude of forms, with variation in their length, thickness, curvature and complexity of shape (Figure 1). The baculum can also be small or large relative to body size, reaching more than 60 cm in the walrus, Odobenus rosmarus. More complex forms may feature bizarre looking teeth or digit-like projections, including components that protrude from the glans penis in certain rodents. Such diversity of form makes the baculum a particularly useful feature for species identification and taxonomy.
snip
...
I understand some of the stuff is not scientifically rigorous, but for someone who was taught that Genesis was literally true, it was a revelation.
Thank you, Dr. Morris
