The Naked Ape: Desmond Morris’s Zoologist’s Study of the Human Animal
A study of the human animal, that describes and explains in depth the habits and way of life of the "naked ape", the species known as Homo sapiens, from how it raises its young to how it fights, explores, feeds and much more.
Author: Desmond Morris (1928–2026), British zoologist
Title: The Naked Ape: A Zoologist’s Study of the Human Animal (1967)
Format: English paperback (Vintage), 272 pages
Scope: Popular science; human behaviour from an evolutionary point of view
Amazon: www.amazon.es/dp/0099482010 (ASIN 0099482010)
Humans as Primates
The book offers a wide-ranging study of our species as a primate, and explains many of the striking traits that set it apart from its closest relatives. Morris looks at origins, sex, rearing, exploration, fighting, feeding, comfort behaviour and our relationship with other animals.
A Controversial Classic
Morris speculates about human origins and attracted criticism from anthropologists and psychologists who read his evolutionary analysis. For ordinary readers, though, it offers a stimulating subject for discussion, in keeping with the wish to find out the truth. According to Morris, the human being is, simply and plainly, a primate like any other, and should be studied as one.
Desmond Morris
Desmond Morris (1928–2026) was a British zoologist who studied animal behaviour at Oxford under Niko Tinbergen, later a Nobel laureate. He became curator of mammals at London Zoo and a familiar face on British television, presenting programmes about animals for many years. He was also a surrealist painter who exhibited alongside Joan Miró. He died in April 2026, at the age of 98, having written dozens of books on human and animal behaviour.
Why "Naked"?
The title comes from a simple observation that opens the book: of the 193 species of monkeys and apes Morris counted, only one is not covered in hair, and it calls itself Homo sapiens. From that starting point he looks at us as a zoologist would look at any other animal, asking how our bodies and our behaviour might have evolved to meet the challenges of prehistoric life.
A Publishing Sensation
The book was serialised in the Daily Mirror and translated into more than twenty languages. Its frank discussion of sex shocked some readers: in 1976 a school board in New York removed it from a high-school library, along with books such as Slaughterhouse-Five, and the case, Island Trees v. Pico, reached the US Supreme Court in 1982. Decades later it even inspired the lyrics of Italy’s 2017 Eurovision entry, Occidentali’s Karma, by Francesco Gabbani.
How It Has Aged
Many of Morris’s specific explanations are now regarded as speculative or simply wrong, and critics have pointed out that his picture of men as hunters and women as homemakers says more about the 1960s than about prehistory. Yet his central idea, that humans are animals shaped by evolution and that our behaviour can be studied scientifically, has stood the test of time and helped pave the way for modern evolutionary psychology.
What to Read Next
Morris followed it with The Human Zoo (1969), about human behaviour in cities, and Manwatching (1977), a guide to body language.
Reading It Today
The best way to read it now is as a classic of its era: a brilliant, provocative book that got people talking about human nature, best enjoyed with a critical eye and perhaps alongside a modern account of human evolution, which will show how much has been learned since 1967.
Why Read It
Published in 1967, it became an international bestseller and changed the way many people thought about themselves. Some of its ideas have not aged well, but it remains a provocative, readable classic of popular science.
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Part of the reading recommendations featured on books.sapiensverbum.com.
