Alexander Mikhailovich Nikolsky (Russian: Александр Михайлович Никольский; February 18, 1858 – December 8, 1942) was a Russian and Ukrainian

zoologist Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

born in

Astrakhan Astrakhan ( rus, Астрахань, p=ˈastrəxənʲ) is the largest city and administrative centre of Astrakhan Oblast in Southern Russia. The city lies on two banks of the Volga, in the upper part of the Volga Delta, on eleven islands of the ...

. From 1877 to 1881, he studied at the

University of St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg State University (SPBU; russian: Санкт-Петербургский государственный университет) is a public university, public research university in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Founded in 1724 by a de ...

, earning his doctorate several years later in 1887. From 1881 to 1891, he took part in numerous expeditions to

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

, the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically ...

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, et al. In 1887 he became an associate professor in

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, later becoming director of the

herpetology Herpetology (from Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and caecilians (gymnophiona)) and rept ...

department at the Zoological Museum of the Academy of Sciences (1895). In 1903 he relocated as a professor to the

Kharkiv University The Kharkiv University or Karazin University ( uk, Каразінський університет), or officially V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University ( uk, Харківський національний університет імені ...

. In 1919 he was elected a member at the Academy of Sciences of

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. Among his written works were ''Herpetologia Caucasica'' (1913), and volumes on

reptile Reptiles, as most commonly defined are the animals in the class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, squamates (lizards and snakes) and rhynchocephalians ( ...

s and

amphibian Amphibians are tetrapod, four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the Class (biology), class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terres ...

s that were part of the series "Fauna of Russia and Adjacent Countries". He is the taxonomic authority of 26 reptile species. The viper ''

Vipera nikolskii :''Common names: Nikolsky's adder, forest-steppe adder.Mallow D, Ludwig D, Nilson G. 2003. ''True Vipers: Natural History and Toxinology of Old World Vipers''. Malabar, Florida: Krieger Publishing Company. 359 pp. .'' ''Vipera nikolskii'' is a v ...

'' (Nikolsky's adder) and the turtle

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

Testudo graeca nikolskii Testudo (which meant "tortoise" in classical Latin) may refer to: * Battering ram, an armored siege engine with metal plating on the top to protect from missiles fired from above * Chevrolet Testudo, a concept car designed and built by Bertone on a ...

'' (Nikolsky's tortoise) are named in his honor. Today in Russia, the "Nikolsky Herpetological Society" commemorates his name.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011)
''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''
Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Nikolsky", pp. 190-191).

Notes

*This article is based on a translation of an article from the

French Wikipedia The French Wikipedia (french: Wikipédia en français) is the French-language edition of Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia. This edition was started on 23 March 2001, two months after the official creation of Wikipedia. It has article ...

, whose sources are listed as: **Adler, Kraig (1989). ''Contributions to the History of Herpetology''. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles. 202 pp. . ** Lescure, Jean; Le Garff, Bernard (2006). ''L'étymologie des noms d'amphibiens et de reptiles''. Paris: Éditions Belin. . (in French).

References

External links

European herpetological societies
1858 births 1942 deaths People from Astrakhan People from Astrakhan Governorate Russian zoologists Russian herpetologists Saint Petersburg State University alumni Academic staff of Saint Petersburg State University Academic staff of the National University of Kharkiv {{Zoologist-stub