John Napier (primatologist)

John Russell Napier
Born	1917 Old Windsor, England
Died	29 August 1987 (aged 70) Isle of Mull, Scotland
Fields	Primatology Paleoanthropology
Institutions	See the text
Alma mater	Medical College of St Bartholomew's Hospital (MB BS; 1943) University of London (D.Sc.)
Notable students	Alison Richard
Known for	Important contributions to primatology and Bigfoot research

John Russell Napier, MRCS, LRCP, D.Sc. (1917 – 29 August 1987) was a British primatologist, paleoanthropologist, and physician, who is notable for his work with Homo habilis and OH 7, as well as on human and primate hands/feet. During his life he was widely considered a leading authority on primate taxonomy, but is perhaps most famous to the general public for his research on Bigfoot.

Napier was an orthopedic surgeon at the University of London before being invited by Sir Wilfrid Le Gros Clark to join him in his paleoanthropology research. Napier then dedicated his life afterward to primatology, becoming the founder of the Primate Society of Great Britain, and was among the group, with Louis Leakey and Philip Tobias, that named Homo habilis in the 1960s.

Napier later became Director of the Primate Biology Program at the Smithsonian Institution, where he examined the famous purported footage of Bigfoot, the Patterson–Gimlin film. After leaving the Smithsonian, Napier became a Visiting Professor of Primate Biology at Birkbeck College in London. He also served as President of Twycross Zoo in Leicestershire, England. Napier was married to British primatologist Prudence Hero Napier (1916 – 6 June 1997), the daughter of Sir Hugo Rutherford.

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