James William Davis (1846, Leeds-1893) was a British naturalist who specialised in fossil fish. He lived at Chevinedge, Halifax in Yorkshire. James William Davis was a leading member of the Yorkshire Naturalists' Union and a Fellow of the Geological Society of London.

Works

partial list *Davis, J.W. (1879) Description of a new species of fossil fish spine, ''Ctenacanthus minor'', from the Lower Coal-Measures of Yorkshire. ''Geological Magazine'', decade 2, 6: 531–532 *Davis, J.W. (1880) On the fish fauna of the Yorkshire Coal Field. ''Proceedings of the Geologists' Association'', 6 (8): 359–370 *Davis, J. W. (1880) On a new species of ''

Gyracanthus ''Gyracanthus'' (from el, γύρος , 'curved' and el, ἄκανθα , 'spine') is an extinct genus of acanthodian Acanthodii or acanthodians is an extinct class of gnathostomes (jawed fishes), typically considered a paraphyletic group. T ...

'', a fossil fish from the Coal-Measures. A''nnals and Magazine of Natural History'' 6:372-373
Online here
*Davis, J.W. (1880) On the genus ''Pleuracanthus'', Agass., including ''Orthacanthus'', Agass., and Gold., ''Diplodus'', Agass., and ''Xenacanthus'', Beyr. ''Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London'', 36: 321–33
Online here
*Davis, J.W. (1880) On the fish-remains found in the Cannel Coal in the Middle Coal-Measures of the West Riding of Yorkshire, with the description of some new species. ''Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London'', 36: 56–6
online here
*Davis, J.W. (1880) On the fish fauna of the Yorkshire Coal Field. ''Proceedings of the Geologists' Association'', 6 (8): 359–370 *Davis, J.W. (1881) On the genera ''Ctenoptychius'', Agassiz; ''Ctenopetalus'', Agassiz; and ''Harpacodus'', Agassiz. ''Annals and Magazine of Natural History'', (Series 5), 8: 424–427 *Davis, J.W. (1881) Notes on the fish-remains of the bone-bed at Aust, near Bristol; with the description of some new genera and species. ''Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London'', 37: 414–42
online here
*Davis, J.W. (1882) On ''Diodontopsodus'', Davis, a new genus of fossil fishes from the Mountain Limestone, at Richmond, in Yorkshire. Abstract. ''Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science'', 51: 646 *Davis, J.W. (1883) On the fossil fishes of the Carboniferous Limestone Series of Great Britain. ''Scientific Transactions of the Royal Dublin Society'', Series 2, 1: 327–548 *Davis, J.W. (1884) On some remains of fossil fishes from the Yoredale Series at Leyburn in Wensleydale. ''Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London'', 40: 614–63
online here
*Davis, J.W. (1887) The fossil fishes of the chalk of Mount Lebanon, in Syria. ''Scientific Transactions of the Royal Dublin Society'', 2 (3): 457–636, pl. 14–38
Online here
Communicated by William Cole, 3rd Earl of Enniskillen. *Davis, J.W. (1887) Note on a fossil species of ''Chlamydoselachus''. ''Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London'', 1887: 542–544 *Davis, J.W. (1888) Note on a species of ''Scymnus'' from the upper Tertiary formation of New Zealand. ''Geological Magazine'', decade 3, 5: 315–316 *Davis, J.W. (1888) On fossil fish-remains from the Tertiary and Cretaceo-Tertiary formations of New-Zealand. ''Scientific Transactions of the Royal Dublin Society'', 4 (2): 1–48, 7 pl. *Davis, J.W. (1890) On the fossil fish of the Cretaceous formations of Scandinavia. ''Scientific Transactions of the Royal Dublin Society'', 2 (4): 363–434, pl. 3
Online here
*Davis, J.W. (1892) On the fossil fish-remains of the coal measures of the British Islands. Part I. Pleuracanthidae ''Scientific Transactions of the Royal Dublin Society'', 2 (4): 703–74
Online here
*Davis, J.W.(1899) Fossil Fish-remains from Carboniferous Shales at Cultra, Co. Down, Ireland ''Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological and Polytechnic Society'', 11, 332-334

Taxa described by Davis

Taxa described by Davis include *''

Cheirothrix lewisii ''Cheirothrix lewisii'' is a species of prehistoric flying ray-finned fish that is included in the order Alepisauriformes, all the members of which are extinct. It dates back to the Late Cretaceous and its fossilised remains were found in fis ...

'' *'' Rhinobatos intermedius'' Davis 1887 *'' Rhinobatos latus'' Davis 1887 *'' Rhinobatos tenuirostris'' Davis 1887 *'' Anodontacanthus'', Davis, 1881 *'' Ctenacanthus minor'' Davis, 1879 *'' Gyracanthus denticulatus'' Davis, 1880 *'' Strepsodus brockbanki'' Davis, 1891. *'' Diodontopsodus'' Davis, 1882 *'' Exocoetoides'' Davis, 1887 DavisYoredaleFossilFishes.jpg , Yoredale Fossil Fishes Plate Davis 1884 DavisYoredaleFossilFishesII.jpg, Yoredale Fossil Fishes Plate Davis 1884 DavisCretaceousFishScandinavia.jpg, Cretaceous Fish of Scandinavia Davis 1884 DavisFossilFishesBritishIslands.jpg, Fossil Fishes of the Coal Measures of theBritish Islands Davis 1892 DavisYoredaleFossilFishes1880.jpg , Spines of ''Peuracanthus''

References

*Anon 1904 ''The History of the Collections Contained in the Natural History Departments of the British Museum, Volume 1 Trustees of the British Museum''
Obituary in The Naturalist
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, James William 1846 births 1893 deaths English palaeontologists Members of the Yorkshire Naturalists' Union