Laurens Theodoor Gronovius (1 June 1730 – 8 August 1777), also known as Laurentius Theodorus Gronovius or as Laurens Theodoor Gronow, was a Dutch naturalist born in

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wi ...

. He was the son of botanist

Jan Frederik Gronovius Jan Frederik Gronovius (also seen as Johann Frederik and Johannes Fredericus) (10 February 1690 in Leiden – 10 July 1762 in Leiden) was a Dutch botanist notable as a patron of Linnaeus. John Clayton, a plant collector in Virginia sent him many ...

(1686–1762). Throughout his lifetime Gronovius amassed an extensive collection of

zoological 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 kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and dis ...

and botanical specimens. He is especially remembered for his work in the field of ichthyology, where he played a significant role in the classification of fishes. In 1754 he published the treatise , in which he described over 200 species of fish. He is also credited with developing a technique for preservation of fish skins. Today, a number of these preserved specimens are kept in the

Natural History Museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more. ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. In 1762 he published the second edition of his father's ''Flora Virginica exhibens Plantas''. In 1763 he was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemat ...

Legacy

Gronovius is commemorated in the scientific name of a species of lizard, ''

Scelotes gronovii Gronovi's dwarf burrowing skink (''Scelotes gronovii'') is a species of skink, a lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to South Africa. Etymology Both the specific name, ''gronovii'', and the common name are in honor of Dutc ...

'' and of the ''

man-of-war fish ''Nomeus gronovii'', the man-of-war fish, or bluebottle fish, is a species of fish in the family Nomeidae, the driftfish. It is native to the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans, where adults are generally found at depths from . It is notable ...

Published works

*, 1754–1756. *, 1760. *, 1760. * (with

Friedrich Christian Meuschen Friedrich Christian Meuschen (15 September 1719 – 20 February 1811) was a German diplomat and conchologist born in Hanau. He was the son of theologian Johann Gerhard Meuschen (1680–1743). Meuschen was a diplomatic representative in The Hague ...

, 1778). *, 1781. *"Catalogue of fish collected and described by Laurence Theodore Gronow now in the British museum", (with

John Edward Gray John Edward Gray, FRS (12 February 1800 – 7 March 1875) was a British zoologist. He was the elder brother of zoologist George Robert Gray and son of the pharmacologist and botanist Samuel Frederick Gray (1766–1828). The same is used for ...

, 1854). *"The Gronovius fish collection: a catalogue and historical account", (with Alwyne C Wheeler; British Museum (Natural History, 1958).WorldCat Search
published works

Sources

*"This article is based on a translation of an equivalent article at the French Wikipedia".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gronovius, Lauren Theodorus 1730 births 1777 deaths People from Leiden Dutch naturalists Dutch zoologists Dutch ichthyologists Fellows of the Royal Society