information:extraction
Colonial Brazil

Danish physician and natural historian Thomas Bartholin wrote about a mermaid specimen caught in Brazil (probably a manatee) and subsequently dissected at Leiden. Though referred to in the text as a "sea-man" (homo marinus) from Brazil, the account was accompanied by an engraved drawing captioned "Sirene", whose appearance was that of a humanoid female with bared breasts (a mermaid). The specimen's body was deformed and "without the sign of a tail", matching the drawing. And "a membrane join together" is also reflected in the drawing as well (as her webbed pair of hands/forepaws).

The specimen's account and illustration was later reproduced by Linnaeus, who captioned the beast "Siren Bartholini", hence "Bartholin's Siren".

Bartholin was actually not the sole proprietor of the specimen, but he came into possession of its hand and ribs, which he also illustrated in his book (figures above). Based on the illustration, the "hand" has been determined to be the front flipper belonging to a manatee by a team of researchers.

Bartholin himself had argued that it was a sea mammal closely related to seals (phocae). His rationale was that since there are several marine counterparts to land mammals e.g. "sea-horses", the possibility of a marine creature with striking likeness to humans could not be ruled out, though they should all be classified among seal-kind.

Erasmus Francisci (Erasmus Finx, 1668) associated this Brazilian specimen with the local native lore of the "Yupiapra" (Ipupiara).