“That’s when we realized there’s something non-random here,” Dominy said. (Image credit: Yvonne A. de Jong & Thomas M. Butynski. Moreover, Teorey said he likes "the idea of the Lorax being an indigenous person or creature of the specific land exploited by the Once-ler." degradation. What’s more, similar to The Lorax ’s mythical Truffula trees, a species of spiked, spindly African tree called the whistling thorn acacia, is also paramount to patas monkeys’ survival. All of this was old news to Pease, who wrote a biography about Geisel's life. A male’s head and body measures 60-87.5cm (2-3ft) while females measure between 48 and 52cm (1.6-1.7ft). (Left to right): UNIVERSAL PICTURES/Album/Alamy Stock Photo; Ondrej Prosicky/shutterstock, The Lorax’s face most closely resembled that of the patas monkey, environmental changes have reduced the patas monkey’s range by half since 1991, How life span–shifting insects are reshaping aging research, Detailed image of a black hole’s magnetic field may explain how matter fuels powerful jets, This microscopic hitchhiker is a friend to both plants and humans, U.S. needs solar geoengineering research program, report says, Researchers coax stripped-down cells to grow normally, China's scientific treasures tempt foreign collaborators, Side effect worry grows for AstraZeneca vaccine, American Association for the Advancement of Science. After arriving at the exclusive Mount Kenya Safari Club in September 1970, Geisel had a breakthrough. The Lorax in the crown of a silk-tufted Truffula tree. By Frankie SchembriJul. The similarities don't stop there. (The algorithm showed that the Lorax looked even more like a blue monkey, or Cercopithecus mitis, but it's unlikely Geisel saw any of these on the safari, as blue monkeys live deep in the forest, Dominy said.). Visit our corporate site. Is there a real monkey in the Lorax's family tree? You will receive a verification email shortly. Even the Lorax’s “sawdusty sneeze,” they guess, very well could have been Seuss’ quirky reinterpretation of the patas monkey’s wheezy whoop. While he never confirmed the true inspiration, evidence suggests that Dr. Seuss was inspired to write “The Lorax” by two things: his battle against deforestation around his home, and a 1970 trip to Kenya. It's anyone's guess whether this bare tree is meant to be a ravaged truffula or another species entirely, but again, it's possible that A. drepanolobium inspired Geisel when he wrote and illustrated the book, Dominy said. It's unclear which tree Geisel saw, but it could have been the whistling thorn acacia (Acacia drepanolobium). Ironically, given The Lorax’s strong conservation message, environmental changes have reduced the patas monkey’s range by half since 1991. Image via cpaulfell/Shutterstock.com Researchers started connecting the dots, and their hypothesis about the inspiration for the cartoon depiction of the Lorax … Dominy was stunned to learn that Geisel had visited Kenya. "The Lorax pops into existence just as an environmentalist would.". Even the voice of the Lorax (a "sawdusty sneeze") sounds like the 'whoo-wherr' calls of patas monkeys, he noted. The researchers have no direct proof that the author encountered the animal during his stay, but his autobiography mentions that he likened the shape of Kenyan trees to his own style of illustration. … In what the study’s authors call “a prophetic example of life imitating art imitating life,” the animal Geisel may have chosen to “speak for the trees” could one day exist only on the pages of his book. "The resemblance is striking." and an equal victim of environmen tal . A distinctive mark that makes the expert very sure of that is his second iconic mustache. Geisel wrote 90% of The Lorax while visiting the Mount Kenya Safari Club in Nanyuki, a region inhabited by patas monkeys. The Patas monkey is an omnivore. Lorax in the area around the Mount Kenya Safari Club my ” makes much more and! With Pease at a dinner hosted by the Dartmouth Society of Fellows around the Mount Kenya Safari Club Advancement Science. 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