Darrel Richmond Frost (born 1951) is an American herpetologist and

systematist Biological systematics is the study of the diversification of living forms, both past and present, and the relationships among living things through time. Relationships are visualized as evolutionary trees (synonyms: cladograms, phylogenetic tre ...

. He was previously head curator of herpetology at the

American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. In Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 26 inter ...

, as well as president of both the

Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles The Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles (SSAR) is an international herpetological society. It is a non-profit organization supporting education, conservation, and research related to reptiles and amphibians. Regular publications in ...

(1998) and the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists (2006). Four taxa are named in his honor: the toad genus ''

Frostius ''Frostius'' – known as Frost's toads – is a small genus of true toads consisting of only two species endemic to Brazil. The genus was proposed by David C. Cannatella in 1986 based on an analysis of a species previously classified as ''Atelop ...

'' (which includes Frost's toad), the tree frog '' Dendropsophus frosti'', Darrel's chorus frog ''

Microhyla darreli ''Microhyla darreli'' is a species of frog in the family Microhylidae, the narrow-mouthed frogs. It is endemic to the Western Ghats south of the Palghat Gap in southern India. It is named for Darrel Frost, an American herpetologist, in recogn ...

'', and Frost's arboreal alligator lizard ''

Abronia frosti Frost's arboreal alligator lizard (''Abronia frosti'') is a species of lizard endemic to Central America. Etymology The specific name, ''frosti'', is in honor of American herpetologist Darrell R. Frost.Beolens B, Watkins M, Grayson M. 2011. ''T ...

''.

Life

Frost became interested in animals after witnessing his father kill a

rattlesnake Rattlesnakes are venomous snakes that form the genera ''Crotalus'' and ''Sistrurus'' of the subfamily Crotalinae (the pit vipers). All rattlesnakes are vipers. Rattlesnakes are predators that live in a wide array of habitats, hunting small anim ...

at the age of four. He earned a B.S. in Biology from the University of Arizona in 1973, an

M.S. A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

in Zoology from Louisiana State University in 1978, and a Ph.D. in Ecology and Systematics from the University of Kansas in 1988. He became an adjunct professor at Columbia University in 2000. In 1990, Frost was appointed Assistant Curator of Herpetology at the

, and in 1995 he was promoted to Associate Curator. He would later become the chief herpetology curator.

Work

Frost and a team of collaborators began work on a catalog of

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 ...

species, ''Amphibian Species of the World'', in 1980. Frost later explained, "When I started in 1980 on the amphibian catalog, it had been a hundred years since this had been done. So it was an enormous amount of work to catch up because the number of amphibians had basically quadrupled." In 1985, the first edition was published in print. Starting in 1990, Frost completely overhauled the catalog and now publishes it on the website of the

. The 1985 catalog had 4,014 species. By 2014, it had grown to more than 7,200, and was being updated almost daily. ''Amphibian Species of the World'' has been described as "the most significant single work in the history of amphibian biology." Frost was awarded the 2013 Sabin Award for Amphibian Conservation in recognition of his work on the catalog. As of 2014, the website is visited more than a million times each year. Frost was lead author of a 2006 study that recommended major taxonomic changes to the amphibian tree of life based on a phylogenetic analysis of 522 species, making it the largest phylogenetic analysis of a vertebrate group to date. Frost has worked in

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

, Ethiopia, Mexico, Peru, Namibia, South Africa and Vietnam, and described a number of new species.

References

External links

Staff profile at the American Museum of Natural HistoryShelf Life Episode 2: Turtles and Taxonomy
(interview) {{DEFAULTSORT:Frost, Darrel 1951 births American herpetologists Columbia University faculty People associated with the American Museum of Natural History Living people