Edgar Alexander Mearns (September 11, 1856 – November 1, 1916) was an American surgeon,
ornithologist and field
naturalist. He was a founder of the
American Ornithologists' Union.
Life
Mearns was born in n
Highland Falls, New York to Alexander and Nancy Reliance Mearns (née Clarswell). His grandfather Alexander was of Scottish origin and moved to Highland Falls in 1815. Edgar Mearns was educated at the Donald Highland Institute (Highland Falls). He attended the
Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons, graduating in 1881.
In 1881, he married Ella Wittich of
Circleville, Ohio. The couple had one son and one daughter. Their son was born in 1886 and died in 1912.
Mearns became a doctor in the U.S. Army. From 1882 to 1899 he served the military as a surgeon. From 1899 to 1903, he was a medical officer in several army institutions. From 1903 to 1904 and from 1905 to 1907, he traveled to the Philippines; he had to interrupt his journey in 1904 because he came down with a parasitic disease. In 1905 a trip led him to
Guam
Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic ce ...
. As major and surgeon in the army, Mearns was appointed medical officer to the International Boundary Commission; he reported on the fauna and trees of the boundary between
Mexico
Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...
and the United States in his 1907 ''Mammals of the Mexican Boundary of the United States''. In 1909 he retired from the army with a rank of a
lieutenant colonel.
Later that year
Theodore Roosevelt invited Mearns to accompany the
Smithsonian-Roosevelt African Expedition as naturalist. From 1911 to 1912 he was a member of the Childs Frick expedition in Africa to collect and prepare specimens of birds that Frick later presented to the
Smithsonian Institution.
Mearns co-founded the
American Ornithologists' Union in 1883. He scientifically described several birds and other animal
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), 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 ...
, like the
Taita thrush, the
Apo sunbird, the
Boran cisticola
The Boran cisticola (''Cisticola bodessa'') is a species of bird in the family Cisticolidae.
It is found in Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda.
Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forest, dry savanna
A savanna or savannah is a mix ...
, the
Chihuahuan grasshopper mouse, and the
rufous-headed tailorbird
The rufous-headed tailorbird (''Phyllergates heterolaemus'') is a species of bird in the family Cettiidae.
It is found only in the Philippines.
Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical moi ...
. He died in
Washington, D.C. at the age of 60.
Eponyms
Several animal
taxa are named in honor of Mearns: five birds; seven mammals, including
Mearns's pocket gopher (''Thomomys bottae mearnsi''); and ''
Petrosaurus mearnsi
''Petrosaurus mearnsi'', also called the banded rock lizard, is a species of lizard in the family Phrynosomatidae. The species is native to western North America.
Etymology
The specific name, ''mearnsi'', is in honor of American naturalist Ed ...
''.
[Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ("Mearns", p. 174).]
References
External links
Zoonomen.net: Short biography of Edgar Alexander MearnsSmithsonian Institution Archives.edu: Edgar Alexander Mearns Papers, circa 1871-1916, 1934 and undated
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mearns, Edgar Alexander
American ornithologists
1856 births
1916 deaths
American people of Scottish descent
19th-century American zoologists
20th-century American zoologists