François-Louis Nompar de Caumont Laporte, comte de Castelnau (born ''François-Louis Nompar de Caumont La Force''; 24 December 1802 – 4 February 1880) was a French naturalist, known also as François Laporte or Francis de Castelnau. The standard author abbreviation Castelnau is used to indicate him when citing a botanical name and zoological names other than insects. Laporte is typically used when citing an insect name, or Laporte de Castelnau.

Life

Born in London, Castelnau studied natural history in Paris. From 1837 to 1841 he traveled in the United States,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, and Canada. He visited Middle

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, a ...

from November 1837 until March 1838, publishing "Essai sur la Floride du Milieu" in 1843. In Canada he studied the fauna of the Canadian lakes and the river systems of

Upper Upper may refer to: * Shoe upper or ''vamp'', the part of a shoe on the top of the foot * Stimulant, drugs which induce temporary improvements in either mental or physical function or both * ''Upper'', the original film title for the 2013 found fo ...

and

Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada (french: province du Bas-Canada) was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence (1791–1841). It covered the southern portion of the current Province of Quebec ...

(roughly corresponding to the modern provinces of

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

and

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Government of Canada, Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is ...

) and of the United States. Castelnau, a French savant, was sent by

Louis Philippe Louis Philippe (6 October 1773 – 26 August 1850) was King of the French from 1830 to 1848, and the penultimate monarch of France. As Louis Philippe, Duke of Chartres, he distinguished himself commanding troops during the Revolutionary Wa ...

, in 1843, with two botanists and a taxidermist, on an expedition to cross South America from

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of the same name, Brazil's List of Brazilian states by population, third-most populous state, and the List of largest citi ...

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of t ...

, following the watershed between the

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...

and La Plata river systems, and thence to Pará. He was gone for five years, with the expedition lasting into 1847. During the expedition, he also collected word lists of various indigenous South American languages, including

Bororoan languages The Borôroan languages of Brazil are Borôro and the extinct Umotína and Otuke. They are sometimes considered to form part of the proposed Macro-Jê language family, though this has been disputed. They are called the Borotuke languages by ...

and Guachi. In 1856-57, he visited the Cape of Good Hope, travelling as far east as Algoa Bay, and subsequently wrote a treatise on South African fish (1861). He served as the French consul in

Bahia Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo, Minas Gerais, and Rio de Janeiro) and the 5th-largest ...

in 1848; in Siam sometime between 1856 and 1858, and in Melbourne, Australia from 1864 to 1877.

Hoax Australian fish

Through no fault of his own, Castelnau's name is attached to an Australian hoax. "'' Ompax spatuloides''", a supposed ganoid fish said to have been discovered in 1872 and named by Castelnau, was a joke originally directed at Karl Staiger, the director of the Brisbane Museum. Staiger forwarded a sketch and description of the made-up fish to Castelnau, who duly described it.

Legacy

Castelnau is commemorated, among others, in the scientific names of: * a species of Australian gecko, '' Oedura castelnaui'', Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Castelnau", p. 49). * a species of ground beetle, '' Megacephala castelnaui'', * a species of scarab beetle, ''

Hybosorus laportei ''Hybosorus'' is a genus of scavenger scarab beetles in the family Hybosoridae. There are about eight described species in ''Hybosorus''. Species * ''Hybosorus crassus'' Klug, 1855 * ''Hybosorus curtulus'' Fairmaire, 1887 * '' Hybosorus laporte ...

'', * an aphid ''

Cinara laportei ''Cinara'', the conifer aphids or giant conifer aphids, is a genus of aphids in the family Aphididae. They are widespread in the Northern Hemisphere. These aphids specialize on conifers in the pine and cypress families.Jousselin, E., et al ...

'', * the spotback skate, '' Atlantoraja castelnaui'' * the plant genus '' Laportea''.

Works

*''Histoire naturelle'', 1837. *''Expédition dans les parties centrales de l'Amérique: histoire naturelle des insectes coléoptères'', 1840. *with Hippolyte Louis Gory , 1837–1841). *''Vues et souvenirs de l'Amérique du Nord'', 1842. *"Essai sur la Floride du Milieu", ''Nouvelles Annales des Voyages et des Sciences Géographiques'', IV, 1843. *, 1843.

Notes

References

External links

*
Francis de Castelnau's expedition

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laporte, Francois Louis French naturalists French taxonomists 1802 births 1880 deaths French entomologists Explorers of Amazonia 19th-century French zoologists 19th-century French diplomats