Auguste Henri André Duméril (30 November 1812 – 12 November 1870) was a French
zoologist. His father,
André Marie Constant Duméril (1774–1860), was also a zoologist. In 1869 he was elected as a member of the
Académie des sciences.
Duméril studied at the
University of Paris, and in 1844 became an associate professor of
comparative physiology at the university. From 1857, he was a professor of
herpetology
Herpetology (from Ancient Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is a branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, salamanders, and caecilians (Gymnophiona)) and reptiles (in ...
and
ichthyology at the
Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris.
In 1851, with his father, he published ''Catalogue méthodique de la collection des Reptiles''. With zoologist
Marie Firmin Bocourt (1819–1904), he collaborated on a project called ''Mission scientifique au Mexique et dans l'Amérique Centrale'', a publication that was the result of Bocourt's scientific expedition to
Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
and Central America from 1864 to 1866. The section on reptiles is considered to be Dumeril's best written effort in the field of
herpetology
Herpetology (from Ancient Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is a branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, salamanders, and caecilians (Gymnophiona)) and reptiles (in ...
. Duméril died in 1870 during the
siege of Paris, and ''Mission scientifique au Mexique et dans l'Amérique Centrale'' was continued by Bocourt,
Léon Vaillant (1834–1914) and other scientists.
As part of the ''Collection des Suites à Buffon'', he issued a two-volume ichthyological study titled ''
Histoire naturelle des poissons, ou Ichtyologie générale'' (1865, 1870), research that complemented the works of
Georges Cuvier (1769–1832) and
Achille Valenciennes (1794–1865) by describing species not covered by the two famous
naturalists. Duméril also conducted significant research involving the
axolotl (''Ambystoma mexicanum'').
Herpetological Osteopathology: Annotated Bibliography of Amphibians and Reptiles
by Hans-Peter Schultze, Rodrigo Pellegrini
Tribute
'' Saurogobio dumerili'' Bleeker 1871 was named in honor of Duméril, who invited Bleeker to examine Chinese cyprinids in the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle’s collection.
See also
* :Taxa named by Auguste Duméril
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dumeril, Auguste
1812 births
1870 deaths
19th-century French zoologists
French ichthyologists
French herpetologists
Members of the French Academy of Sciences
Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery
National Museum of Natural History (France) people
Scientists from Paris
University of Paris alumni