After its introduction on Plancius's globe, the constellation's first known appearance in a celestial atlas was in German cartographer Johann Bayer's Uranometria of 1603. Bayer called it Apis Indica while fellow astronomers Johannes Kepler and his son-in-law Jakob Bartsch called it Apus or Avis Indica. The name Apus is derived from the Greek apous, meaning "without feet". This referred to the Western misconception that the bird-of-paradise had no feet, which arose because the only specimens available in the West had their feet and wings removed. Such specimens began to arrive in Europe in 1522, when the survivors of Ferdinand Magellan's expedition brought them home. The constellation later lost some of its tail when Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille used those stars to establish Octans in the 1750s.
After its introduction on Plancius's globe the constellation's first known appearance in a celestial atlas was in German cartographer Johann Bayer's Uranometria of 1603 Bayer called it Apis Indica while fellow astronomers Johannes Kepler and his son-in-law Jakob Bartsch called it Apus or Avis Indica The name Apus is derived from the Greek apous meaning "without feet" This referred to the Western misconception that the bird-of-paradise had no feet which arose because the only specimens available in the West had their feet and wings removed Such specimens began to arrive in Europe in 1522 when the survivors of Ferdinand Magellan's expedition brought them home The constellation later lost some of its tail when Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille used those stars to establish Octans in the 1750s