Edward Phelps Allis (c. 1851–1947) was a leading comparative anatomist and evolutionary morphologist in the early twentieth century.
He attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology which gave him knowledge of engineering, and he was involved in business management through his father's enterprises.
The illustrations in this, and many of Allis's subsequent publications, were drawn and prepared for lithography by the Japanese artist Jujiro Nomura.
After Allis's death, his son returned to Menton in 1948 and retrieved his father's remaining papers, including original illustrations and notes.
[3] Ellis's illustrations and notes, including unpublished material and working drawings in color, were given to A. S. Romer by his son around 1950.