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1889–1978
A tireless field naturalist and taxonomist, this American herpetologist helped map the reptile and amphibian life of places from the Philippines to Mexico. His work left a lasting mark on 20th-century zoology.
Born in Maysville, Missouri, in 1889, he studied at the University of Kansas and went on to become one of the best-known herpetologists of his era. He built his reputation through extensive fieldwork and a lifelong focus on reptiles and amphibians.
Much of his most important research grew out of expeditions in the Philippines, as well as later work in Mexico, Costa Rica, and Southeast Asia. Over the course of his career, he described a remarkable number of species and published widely, becoming an influential figure in taxonomy and museum-based natural history.
He died in 1978, but his name still appears throughout scientific literature, both through his own publications and in species named in his honor. Readers interested in the history of zoology will find in his career the story of a patient observer whose discoveries came from years in the field and careful study in the lab.