Gabriel Bibron (20 October 1805 – 27 March 1848) was a French

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 kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and d ...

and

herpetologist 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 rep ...

. He was born in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

. The son of an employee of the

Museum national d'histoire naturelle The French National Museum of Natural History, known in French as the ' (abbreviation MNHN), is the national natural history museum of France and a ' of higher education part of Sorbonne Universities. The main museum, with four galleries, is loca ...

, he had a good foundation in natural history and was hired to collect

vertebrate Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () (chordates with backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, with c ...

s in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

. Under the direction of

Jean Baptiste Bory de Saint-Vincent Jean-Baptiste Geneviève Marcellin Bory de Saint-Vincent was a French naturalist, officer and politician. He was born on 6 July 1778 in Agen (Lot-et-Garonne) and died on 22 December 1846 in Paris. Biologist and geographer, he was particularly in ...

(1778–1846), he took part in the

Morea expedition The Morea expedition (french: link=no, Expédition de Morée) is the name given to the land intervention of the French Army in the PeloponneseMorea is the name of the Peloponnese region in Greece, which was mainly used from the medieval per ...

to Peloponnese. He classified numerous reptile

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

with André Marie Constant Duméril (1774–1860), whom he had met in 1832. Duméril was interested mainly in the relations between genera, and he left to Bibron the task of describing the species. Working together they produced the ''Erpétologie Générale'', a comprehensive account of the reptiles, published in ten volumes from 1834 to 1854. Also, Bibron assisted Duméril with teaching duties at the museum and was an instructor at a primary school in Paris. Bibron contracted

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...

and retired in 1845 to Saint-Alban-les-Eaux, where he died at the age of 42.

Taxa named in honor of Bibron

Bibron is commemorated in the scientific names of ten species of reptiles.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Bibron", p. 25). *'' Afrotyphlops bibronii'', a

blind snake The Scolecophidia, commonly known as blind snakes or thread snakes, are an infraorder of snakes. They range in length from . All are fossorial (adapted for burrowing). Five families and 39 genera are recognized. The Scolecophidia infraorder is m ...

*'' Atractaspis bibroni'', a

venomous snake Venomous snakes are species of the suborder Serpentes that are capable of producing venom, which they use for killing prey, for defense, and to assist with digestion of their prey. The venom is typically delivered by injection using hollow or g ...

*'' Calliophis bibroni'', a venomous snake *'' Candoia bibroni'', a

boa Kwon Bo-ah (; born November 5, 1986), known professionally as BoA, is a South Korean singer, songwriter, dancer, record producer and actress. One of the most successful and influential Korean entertainers, she has been dubbed the " Queen of K- ...

*'' Chondrodactylus bibronii'', a gecko *'' Diplolaemus bibronii'', a lizard *'' Enyalius bibronii'', a lizard *'' Eutropis bibronii'', a skink *'' Liolaemus bibronii'', a lizard *'' Pelochelys bibroni'', a turtle An eleventh species, which was more commonly known as ''Agama impalearis'', had been named '' Agama bibronii'' by André Marie Constant Duméril in 1851, however a decision by the ICZN in 1971 confirmed that the correct name was ''A. bibroni''.

References

External links

SSARHerps
(biography). 1805 births 1848 deaths French zoologists French herpetologists National Museum of Natural History (France) people Scientists from Paris Tuberculosis deaths in France 19th-century deaths from tuberculosis {{France-zoologist-stub