Prudence Hero Napier (née Rutherford) (15 March 1916 – 6 June 1997) was one of Britain's most eminent primatologists, and the world's leading expert on the taxonomy of primates.
[3] In 1936, she married the newly graduated surgeon John Napier, who had acquired a particular interest in the anatomy of the human hand.
During the 1950s he became convinced that human functional anatomy could not be properly understood without in-depth knowledge of non-human primates and, with Prue's help, he founded the Unit of Primatology in the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine, which, at that time, was the first centre in Great Britain devoted to the study of non-human primates.
From being an interested amateur, having no formal training, Prue Napier came to be revered and consulted by zoologists all over the world.
[3] Although they were retired, John and Prue continued their research and in 1985 the couple published one last book titled, The Natural History of the Primates.