Her Black Hairs Led to Doctors Claiming She Was a Hybrid Between a Human and an “Orangutan”

The woman advertised as the “Baboon lady”, “Dog-faced woman”, “Ape-faced woman”, and “Bear Woman.”

Julia Pastrana (before 1900) — a footnote on her poster says Miss Julia Pastrana, a miracle of the world that speaks English, and Spanish, singing and dancing admirably. — image courtesy of wikimedia.org

The case of Julia Pastrana led to many theories being born about her origin. These speculations also arose because her face had a gorilla-like appearance, among other body features. One of the most popular theories was that Pastrana was a hybrid between an animal and a human.

Birth

Pastrana was born in August 1834 in Sinaloa, Mexico. She suffered from a genetic condition known as hypertrichosis terminalis (also known as generalized hypertrichosis lanuginosa). The condition caused the growth of long black hair all over her body. Besides this, Pastrana had an irregular double set of upper and lower teeth.

Early life

Julia Pastrana’s true origin is still debatable to this day.

One version claims that she was a Native American from the Root Diggers tribe. The members of this tribe lived in caves and displayed ape features. According to this version, Pastrana had managed to escape with Espinosa, a lady who had been kidnapped by Pastrana’s tribe.