Doris Mable Cochran (May 18, 1898 – May 22, 1968) was an 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 rept ...
and custodian of the American Natural Collection at the
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...
in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, for many years.
Life
Born in North Girard,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
, she grew up in Washington, D.C., after her father transferred there for a government job.
While an undergraduate student at
George Washington University
, mottoeng = "God is Our Trust"
, established =
, type = Private federally chartered research university
, academic_affiliations =
, endowment = $2.8 billion (2022)
, preside ...
(A.B. 1920, M.S. 1921), she worked for the
War Department War Department may refer to:
* War Department (United Kingdom)
* United States Department of War (1789–1947)
See also
* War Office, a former department of the British Government
* Ministry of defence
* Ministry of War
* Ministry of Defence
* Dep ...
and became Aide in the Division of Herpetology at the
United States National Museum
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...
. Although the museum was under the curatorship of
Leonhard Stejneger
Leonhard Hess Stejneger (30 October 1851 – 28 February 1943) was a Norwegian-born American ornithologist, herpetologist and zoologist. Stejneger specialized in vertebrate natural history studies. He gained his greatest reputation with reptiles ...
, Cochran was responsible for the administration of the herpetological collections. In 1927 she became Assistant Curator, and in 1942, Associate Curator just prior to Stejneger's death.
She earned a Ph.D. at the
University of Maryland
The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...
in 1933 with a thesis on
blue crab Blue crab may refer to:
* Blue Crab 11, an American sailboat design
* ''Callinectes sapidus'' – Chesapeake or Atlantic blue crab of the West Atlantic, introduced elsewhere
* ''Cardisoma guanhumi'' – blue land crab of the West Atlantic
* '' Disc ...
musculature. She became the first woman Curator in 1956 until her retirement in 1968 on her 70th birthday.
After completing studies at
Corcoran Art School and developing her talents as an artist, Cochran became a scientific illustrator not only for her own works, but for those of her colleagues.
Cochran's research was focused primarily on the herpetofauna of the West Indies and South America, particularly Haiti.
She published 90
taxonomic
Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification.
A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...
papers between 1922 and her death (four days after her retirement in 1968) in which she described eight new
genera
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...
and 125
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 ...
and
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 ...
as well as wartime booklets for the military identifying venomous reptiles.
Her 20 years of studies of the West Indies culminated in ''The Herpetology of Hispaniola'' in 1941. She visited Haiti twice, in 1935 and 1962–1963. In Haiti she would work with
Adolfo Lutz
Adolfo Lutz (6 October 1855 – 18 December 1940) was a Brazilian physician, father of tropical medicine and medical zoology in Brazil, and a pioneer epidemiologist and researcher in infectious diseases.
Life
Lutz was born in Rio de Janeiro, on ...
and his daughter,
Bertha
Bertha is a female Germanic name, from Old High German ''berhta'' meaning "bright one". It was usually a short form of Anglo Saxon names ''Beorhtgifu'' meaning "bright gift" or ''Beorhtwynn'' meaning "bright joy".
The name occurs as a theonym, s ...
.
Her most popular book was ''Living Amphibians of the World'', published in 1961. When she visited Brazil, Cochran received a donation of 3,000 Brazilian frogs from
Adolfo Lutz
Adolfo Lutz (6 October 1855 – 18 December 1940) was a Brazilian physician, father of tropical medicine and medical zoology in Brazil, and a pioneer epidemiologist and researcher in infectious diseases.
Life
Lutz was born in Rio de Janeiro, on ...
, and wrote about South American frogs in ''Frogs of Southeastern Brazil'' in 1954 and ''Frogs of Colombia'' in 1970 (posthumously).
Honors
Cochran was the second person to be elected a distinguished fellow 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 1962 and had served as its first secretary.
At least six reptiles have been named after Doris Cochran of which four are still considered valid: ''
Aristelliger cochranae''
GRANT
Grant or Grants may refer to:
Places
*Grant County (disambiguation)
Australia
* Grant, Queensland, a locality in the Barcaldine Region, Queensland, Australia
United Kingdom
*Castle Grant
United States
* Grant, Alabama
*Grant, Inyo County, C ...
1931, ''
Gelanesaurus cochranae
''Gelanesaurus cochranae'', also known commonly as Cochran's neusticurus, is a species of lizard in the family Gymnophthalmidae. The species is native to northwestern South America.
Etymology
The specific name, ''cochranae'', was chosen in ho ...
'' (
BURT
Burt is a given name and also a shortened form of other names, such as Burton and Herbert, or a place name.
Burt may refer to:
People
*Burt Alvord (1866–after 1910), American Old West lawman and outlaw
*Burt Bacharach (born 1928), American com ...
&
BURT
Burt is a given name and also a shortened form of other names, such as Burton and Herbert, or a place name.
Burt may refer to:
People
*Burt Alvord (1866–after 1910), American Old West lawman and outlaw
*Burt Bacharach (born 1928), American com ...
1931), ''
Sphaerodactylus cochranae
Cochran's least gecko (''Sphaerodactylus cochranae'') is a species of lizard in the family Sphaerodactylidae. The species is endemic to the Dominican Republic.
Etymology
The specific name, C''ochranae'', is in honor of American herpetologist Dor ...
''
RUIBAL 1946, ''
Gongylosoma baliodeirus cochranae'' (
TAYLOR
Taylor, Taylors or Taylor's may refer to:
People
* Taylor (surname)
**List of people with surname Taylor
* Taylor (given name), including Tayla and Taylah
* Taylor sept, a branch of Scottish clan Cameron
* Justice Taylor (disambiguation)
Plac ...
1962).
[ Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Cochran", pp. 55-56).]
Partial list of published works
*(1930). ''Cold-blooded vertebrates''. (New York: Smithsonian Institution).
*(1934). ''Herpetological collections from the West Indies, made by Dr. Paul Bartsch under the Walter Rathbone Bacon scholarship, 1928-1930''. (New York: Smithsonian Institution).
*(1935). ''The skeletal musculature of the blue crab, ''Callinectes sapidus'' Rathbun''. (New York: Smithsonian Institution).
*(1941). ''The Herpetology of Hispaniola''. (Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office).
*(1954). ''Frogs of Southeastern Brazil''. (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution).
*(1961). ''Living Amphibians of the World''. (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday).
*(1961). ''Type specimens of reptiles and amphibians in the U.S. National Museum''. (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution).
*(1970). ''Frogs of Colombia''. (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution).
*(1970). (with
Coleman J. Goin). ''The New Field Book of Reptiles and Amphibians; more than 200 photographs and diagrams''. (New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons).
References
Further reading
*
Adler, Kraig (1989). "Herpetologists of the past". pp. 5–141. In: ''Contributions to the History of Herpetology, Volume 5''.
Ithaca
Ithaca most commonly refers to:
*Homer's Ithaca, an island featured in Homer's ''Odyssey''
*Ithaca (island), an island in Greece, possibly Homer's Ithaca
*Ithaca, New York, a city, and home of Cornell University and Ithaca College
Ithaca, Ithaka ...
,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
:
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 ...
.
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cochran, Doris M
American herpetologists
Women herpetologists
American naturalists
1898 births
1968 deaths
American taxonomists
Women taxonomists
Smithsonian Institution people
George Washington University alumni
University of Maryland, College Park alumni
20th-century American zoologists
20th-century American women scientists
20th-century naturalists
20th-century American women writers
Scientists from Washington, D.C.
American women curators
American curators