author
Hobart M. (Hobart Muir) Smith
1912–2013
A towering figure in American herpetology, this prolific scientist spent decades documenting reptiles and amphibians, especially those of Mexico. He was credited with describing more than 100 new species and built a reputation for an extraordinary lifetime of research and writing.
2 Audiobooks
Selected Records of Reptiles and Amphibians from Kansas
by John Breukelman, Hobart M. (Hobart Muir) Smith
Kyphosis and other Variations in Soft-shelled Turtles
by Hobart M. (Hobart Muir) Smith
About the author
Born in Stanwood, Iowa, in 1912, he became one of the most influential herpetologists of the 20th century. Sources agree that he studied at Kansas State University and the University of Kansas, then went on to a long academic career that included the University of Colorado Boulder, where he was later professor emeritus.
He is best known for his work on reptiles and amphibians of North America and Mexico. Biographical sources describe him as a remarkably productive scholar who described more than 100 new species, and accounts of his career emphasize how widely he published and how deeply he shaped the study of herpetology.
He lived to be 100 and died in Boulder, Colorado, on March 4, 2013. Even in brief summaries of his life, what stands out is the scale of his curiosity and commitment: a scientist whose fieldwork, taxonomy, and writing left a lasting mark on the study of reptiles and amphibians.