James Paul Chapin (July 9, 1889 – April 5, 1964) was an American ornithologist and curator of the American Museum of Natural History.

Biography

Chapin is one of the highest-regarded ornithologists of the twentieth century. He was joint leader (with

Herbert Lang Herbert Lang (March 24, 1879 – May 29, 1957) was a German zoologist. Lang was born in Oehringen, Württemberg, Germany. His childhood interest in nature led to a job as a taxidermist and later work at the natural history museum at the Univers ...

) of the Lang–Chapin expedition, which made a biological survey of the

Belgian Congo The Belgian Congo (french: Congo belge, ; nl, Belgisch-Congo) was a Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960. The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in 1964. Colo ...

between 1909 and 1915. For his work ''The Birds of the Belgian Congo, Part I'', he was awarded the

Daniel Giraud Elliot Medal The Daniel Giraud Elliot Medal is awarded by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences "for meritorious work in zoology or paleontology study published in a three- to five-year period." Named after Daniel Giraud Elliot, it was first awarded in 1917. ...

from the National Academy of Sciences in 1932. He received a bachelor's degree in 1916, master's degree in 1917, and a doctorate in 1932, all from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, and then began a lengthy career at the American Museum of Natural History. Chapin served as the 17th president of

The Explorers Club The Explorers Club is an American-based international multidisciplinary professional society with the goal of promoting scientific exploration and field study. The club was founded in New York City in 1904, and has served as a meeting point fo ...

from 1949 to 1950.

Legacy

Chapin is commemorated in the scientific names of three species of African reptiles: '' Ichnotropis chapini'', '' Pelusios chapini'', and '' Trioceros chapini''. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Chapin", pp. 51–52). Chapin returned to the Belgian Congo in 1953 to continue fieldwork which he had started more than half a century earlier. When asked about his most famous discovery, he mentioned the

Congo peafowl The Congo peafowl (''Afropavo congensis''), also known as the African peafowl or ''mbulu'' by the Bakôngo, is a species of peafowl native to the Congo Basin. It is one of three peafowl species and the only member of the subfamily Pavoninae nat ...

, adding that he had obtained a feather from this hitherto unknown bird from a pygmy on one of his expeditions, but had never seen the bird. It was unknown to science. Years later he was able to identify it as the rare Congo peafowl.

References

External links

* * 1889 births 1964 deaths American curators American ornithologists People from Staten Island People associated with the American Museum of Natural History Scientists from New York (state) 20th-century American zoologists {{US-ornithologist-stub Columbia College (New York) alumni Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni