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TIL that 2500 years ago, an explorer named Hanno found a tribe of ‘hairy and savage’ people. He captured three women, but they were so ferocious that he had them killed and skinned. It’s speculated... (en.wikipedia.org)

submitted 1 year ago by PostBot@chat.maiion.com to c/todayilearned@chat.maiion.com

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[–] RiderExMachina@lemmy.ml 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

... That the specimens were actually gorillas.

From the article:

Gorillai

The end of the periplus describes an island populated with hairy and savage people. Attempts to capture the men failed. Three of the women were taken, but were so ferocious that they were killed, their skins brought home to Carthage. The skins were kept in the Temple of Juno (Tanit or Astarte) on Hanno's return and, according to Pliny the Elder, survived until the Roman destruction of Carthage in 146 BC, some 350 years after Hanno's expedition.

Hanno's interpreters of an African tribe (Lixites or Nasamonians) called the people Gorillai (in Greek, Γόριλλαι). In 1847, the gorilla, an ape species, was scientifically described and named after the Gorillai. The authors did not affirmatively identify Hanno's Gorillai as the gorilla.