Clifford Hillhouse Pope (April 11, 1899 – June 3, 1974) was a noted American

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 the son of Mark Cooper Pope and Harriett Alexander (Hull) Pope, and grew up in Washington, Georgia. While in college in the summers of 1919 and 1920 Pope went to the New York Zoological Society's Tropical Research Station at Katabo Point British Guiana, maintained by

William Beebe Charles William Beebe ( ; July 29, 1877 – June 4, 1962) was an American naturalist, ornithologist, marine biologist, entomologist, explorer, and author. He is remembered for the numerous expeditions he conducted for the New York Zoological ...

. Starting in 1921, after graduating from the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...

, he spent many years in China as part of the Central Asiatic Expeditions of the American Museum of Natural History, accompanying

Roy Chapman Andrews Roy Chapman Andrews (January 26, 1884 – March 11, 1960) was an American explorer, adventurer and naturalist who became the director of the American Museum of Natural History. He led a series of expeditions through the politically disturbed ...

on the expedition to the Gobi desert that first discovered fossilized dinosaur eggs. Pope mastered the Chinese language and made a total of eight expeditions in Chinese territory prior to 1930. In China he gave scientific names to the Kuatun horned toad, '' Hyla sanchiangensis'', '' Amolops chunganensis'', '' Rana fukienensis'', and others. He also did a great deal of work with Karl Patterson Schmidt. Pope worked at the American Museum of Natural History from 1921-1934.Department of Herpetology
/ref> He was president and journal editor of the

American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists The American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists (ASIH) is an international learned society devoted to the scientific studies of ichthyology (study of fish) and herpetology (study of reptiles and amphibians). The primary emphases of the ...

in 1935. In 1927, the

Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded ...

made Pope an ''Honorary Scout'', a new category of Scout created that same year. This distinction was given to "American citizens whose achievements in outdoor activity, exploration and worthwhile adventure are of such an exceptional character as to capture the imagination of boys...". The other eighteen who were awarded this distinction were:

; Robert Bartlett;

Frederick Russell Burnham Frederick Russell Burnham DSO (May 11, 1861 – September 1, 1947) was an American scout and world-traveling adventurer. He is known for his service to the British South Africa Company and to the British Army in colonial Africa, and for teach ...

;

Richard E. Byrd Richard Evelyn Byrd Jr. (October 25, 1888 – March 11, 1957) was an American naval officer and explorer. He was a recipient of the Medal of Honor, the highest honor for valor given by the United States, and was a pioneering American aviator, p ...

;

George Kruck Cherrie George Kruck Cherrie (August 22, 1865 – January 20, 1948) was an American naturalist and explorer. He collected numerous specimens on nearly forty expeditions that he joined for museums and several species have been named after him. Early lif ...

;

James L. Clark James Lippitt Clark (18 November 1883 in Providence, Rhode Island – 1969) was a distinguished American explorer, sculptor and scientist. Following his studies at the Rhode Island School of Design and his training at the Gorham Silver Company ...

;

Merian C. Cooper Merian Caldwell Cooper (October 24, 1893 – April 21, 1973) was an American filmmaker and Academy Award winner, as well as a former aviator who served as an officer in the United States Air Force and Polish Air Force. In film, he is credited a ...

;

Lincoln Ellsworth Lincoln Ellsworth (May 12, 1880 – May 26, 1951) was a polar explorer from the United States and a major benefactor of the American Museum of Natural History. Biography Lincoln Ellsworth was born on May 12, 1880, to James Ellsworth and Eva F ...

; Louis Agassiz Fuertes;

George Bird Grinnell George Bird Grinnell (September 20, 1849 – April 11, 1938) was an American anthropologist, historian, naturalist, and writer. Grinnell was born in Brooklyn, New York, and graduated from Yale University with a B.A. in 1870 and a Ph.D. in 1880. ...

;

Charles A. Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, and activist. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, a distance o ...

;

Donald B. MacMillan Donald Baxter MacMillan (November 10, 1874 – September 7, 1970) was an American explorer, sailor, researcher and lecturer who made over 30 expeditions to the Arctic during his 46-year career. He pioneered the use of radios, airplanes, an ...

;

George Palmer Putnam George Palmer Putnam (February 7, 1814 – December 20, 1872) was an American publisher and author. He founded the firm G. P. Putnam's Sons and '' Putnam's Magazine''. He was an advocate of international copyright reform, secretary for many yea ...

;

Kermit Roosevelt Kermit Roosevelt MC (October 10, 1889 – June 4, 1943) was an American businessman, soldier, explorer, and writer. A son of Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United States, Kermit graduated from Harvard College, served in both Wo ...

; Carl Rungius;

Stewart Edward White Stewart Edward White (12 March 1873 – September 18, 1946) was an American writer, novelist, and spiritualist. He was a brother of noted mural painter Gilbert White. Personal life White was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the son of Mary E. ( ...

; Orville Wright. Starting in 1940 Pope worked at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, Illinois, as Curator, Division of Amphibians and Reptiles, where his field efforts focused on

plethodontid Plethodontidae, or lungless salamanders, are a family of salamanders. Most species are native to the Western Hemisphere, from British Columbia to Brazil, although a few species are found in Sardinia, Europe south of the Alps, and South Korea. In ...

salamander Salamanders are a group of amphibians typically characterized by their lizard-like appearance, with slender bodies, blunt snouts, short limbs projecting at right angles to the body, and the presence of a tail in both larvae and adults. All t ...

s in Mexico, California, and the eastern United States. Pope and

Archie Carr Archie Fairly Carr, Jr. (June 16, 1909 – May 21, 1987) was an American herpetologist, ecologist, and conservationist. He was a Professor of Zoology at the University of Florida and an acclaimed writer on science and nature. He brought attentio ...

greatly expanded the knowledge of North American turtles, and Pope was one of the first herpetologists to write factually about the giant snakes for the general public. Pope retired from the Field Museum in 1954. Pope is the author of many books including ''Snakes Alive and How They Live'' (1937), ''Turtles of the United States and Canada'' (1939), ''China’s Animal Frontier'' (1940), ''The Reptile World'' (1955) and ''The Giant Snakes'' (1961). Pope's keelback ('' Amphiesma popei ''), Pope's emo skink ('' Emoia popei'' ), and Pope's skink ('' Eumeces popei'' ) are named in his honor. Popes' tree viper ('' Trimeresurus popeiorum'') is named in honor of Pope and his wife Sarah H. Pope.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Pope, C.H.", pp. 209-210). A well-known quote from Pope is that "snakes are first cowards, then bluffers, and last of all warriors."Pope, C.H. (1958). ''Snakes Alive and How They Live''. New York: Viking Press.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pope, Clifford H. 1899 births 1974 deaths People associated with the American Museum of Natural History American herpetologists People associated with the Field Museum of Natural History People from Washington, Georgia 20th-century American zoologists