Linnaeus formally classified monstrous humans as a separate species.
Evidence
Carl Linnaeus, the famous Swedish Enlightenment scientist, classified a species of beings— Homo monstrous—monsters that were delineated from human beings. Homo monstrous was then divided into three types of monsters— Homo troglodytes, Homo caudatus, and Homo marinus. Linnaeus influenced later generations of scientists, including those who traveled on voyages of exploration. Many monsters were purportedly observed on these voyages, including some in regions of the globe that Europeans only “discovered” in the fifteenth century and after. — Sophia Rose Arjana, Muslims in the Western Imagination, 346
Categorization
Category: Factual Claims
- QUESTION: Worth investigating whether Homo troglodytes/caudatus/marinus carried specifically Muslim markers or were mapped onto Muslim populations on voyages of exploration.
- XREF: Connects to the reader’s fear-without-object theme — monsters supposedly observed only after ‘discovery,’ meaning the image was projected onto pre-encountered regions.
Related
- Linnaeus formally classified human monsters as a biological species. (similarity 0.94)
- Enlightenment science itself formalized a taxonomy of human monsters. (similarity 0.90)
- European Orientalist travelers claimed human-animal hybrids roamed Egypt (similarity 0.80)
- Orientalist monsters shifted from animal hybrids to demonized Muslim men (similarity 0.79)
Broader Connections
- Monsters reveal the discursive practices defining normative humanity.
#exemplifies(0.80) — Sophia Rose Arjana, Muslims in the Western Imagination, 52 - Orientalist monsters shifted from animal hybrids to demonized Muslim men
#qualifies(0.50) — Sophia Rose Arjana, Muslims in the Western Imagination, 378