François Doumergue (11 May 1858,

Carcassonne Carcassonne (, also , , ; ; la, Carcaso) is a French fortified city in the department of Aude, in the region of Occitanie. It is the prefecture of the department. Inhabited since the Neolithic, Carcassonne is located in the plain of the ...

– 24 December 1938, Oran, Algeria) was a French naturalist remembered for his scientific investigations within the department of Oran. From September 1886 onward, he taught classes at the ''Lycée d'Oran''. As a naturalist, he made contributions in the fields of

paleontology Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...

geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ear ...

botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...

and

zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

. He was a member of the ''Société de géographie et d'archéologie d'Oran'', serving as its president from 1912 to 1920, and then again from 1924 to 1928. Beginning in 1886, with zoologist

Paul Maurice Pallary Paul Maurice Pallary (9 March 1869, in Mers-el-Kebir, French Algeria – 9 January 1942, in Oran, Vichy French Algeria) was a French-Algerian malacologist. His pioneering research on molluscs was mainly concentrated in the western part of the Med ...

, he conducted paleontological explorations of several cave sites in the vicinity of Oran. In 1892 at the so-called "Abri Alain" (Kouchet El-Djir), the two men uncovered evidence of prehistoric human activity dating back many centuries. Some of the

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

pieces that were excavated later became part of the

Ahmed Zabana National Museum The Ahmed Zabana National Museum ( ar, المتحف الوطني أحمد زبانة, ''El-mathaf El-ouatani Ahmed Zabana'') is a museum located in Oran, Algeria, and named after the Algerian national hero Ahmed Zabana who was executed by the Frenc ...

in Oran. A

herpetological 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 r ...

species known as " Doumergue's fringe-fingered lizard" (''Acanthodactylus spinicauda'') is named after him; it was first described by Doumergue in 1901.

Selected works

* ''Contributions à la flore de Montolieu (Aude) et de ses environs'', 1885 – Contributions to the flora of Montolieu and its neighboring regions. * ''La Grotte du ciel ouvert, à Oran'', 1893. * ''Notes sur quelques plantes intéressantes de la province d'Oran'', 1896 – Notes on some interesting plants in the province of Oran. * ''Essai sur la faune erpétologique de l'Oranie'', 1901 – Essay on the herpetological fauna of Oran. * ''Nouvelles contributions au préhistorique de la province d'Oran'', 1906 – New contributions on the prehistory of the province of Oran. * ''La Grotte préhistorique de la Forêt, à Oran'', 1907. * ''Notice explicative de la carte géologique d'Oran, avec un historique et des observations de M. Doumergue'', 1908 (with E. Ficheur) – Explanatory notes on the geological map of Oran.Google Books
published works

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doumergue, Francois 1858 births 1938 deaths People from Carcassonne French naturalists French paleontologists French herpetologists 20th-century French botanists French archaeologists 19th-century French botanists People of French Algeria