Louis André Gaspard MichaudCoan E. V., Kabat A. R. & Petit R. E. (15 February 2009)

, 830 pp. + 32 pp. nnex of Collations American Malacological Society. (7 December 1795 in Sornac – 4 April 1880 in

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...

s) was a French

malacologist Malacology is the branch of invertebrate zoology that deals with the study of the Mollusca (mollusks or molluscs), the second-largest phylum of animals in terms of described species after the arthropods. Mollusks include snails and slugs, clams, ...

. He is also known as Gaspard Michaud or as André Louis Gaspard Michaud.

Biography

Michaud was the son of a teacher who stimulated his son's passion for natural sciences. He signed up for the infantry in 1813. He was injured twice during the siege of

Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand ...

(1814–1815). After his recovery in 1815 he became fully interested in natural sciences and began a conchological collection. When his father died in 1817, he decided to stay in the army to support his family. His career went well and he became an officer in 1823. He started to publish his first scientific paper between 1828 and 1831, dealing mainly with

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...

molluscs. In 1831 he published his major work, the ''Complément'' to the works of Draparnaud (1805).DRAPARNAUD J. P. R., an XIII

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– ''Histoire naturelle des Mollusques terrestres et fluviatiles de la France''. Paris, 164 p., 13 pl. (I-XIII) osthumous work In 1833 he wrote a first paper on the terrestrial molluscs of

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. From 1837 on he became interested in

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

s, and started to publish several papers dealing with palaeomalacology. Together with Valéry Louis Victor Potiez (1806–1870) he published in 1835 the ''Galerie des mollusques'', a catalogue of the molluscs in the collection of the museum of

Douai Douai (, , ,; pcd, Doï; nl, Dowaai; formerly spelled Douay or Doway in English) is a city in the Nord département in northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. Located on the river Scarpe some from Lille and from Arras, Dou ...

. In 1839 he became a

Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon B ...

, mainly because of his scientific contributions rather than because of his military service. He left the army in 1844, and started work as a professor and director of the Michaud Institute in

s. From then on he applied himself completely to the study of molluscan fossils. He published several papers (1855, 1862, 1876, 1877) uncovering the

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

fauna of the basin of Hauterives (

Drôme Drôme (; Occitan: ''Droma''; Arpitan: ''Drôma'') is the southernmost department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. Named after the river Drôme, it had a population of 516,762 as of 2019.

). Part of his malacological collection is still preserved at the museum of Lyons. The rest of his collection, which was donated to museums in Brive and

Mâcon Mâcon (), historically anglicised as Mascon, is a city in east-central France. It is the prefecture of the department of Saône-et-Loire in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. Mâcon is home to near 34,000 residents, who are referred to in French as ...

has largely been lost.

Taxa described

Michaud named 23 genera and 225 species, among which are: * '' Aporrhais serresianus'' (Michaud, 1828) * '' Argna biplicata'' (Michaud, 1831) * '' Pleurodiscus balmei'' (Potiez & Michaud, 1838) * '' Leptinaria lamellata'' (Potiez & Michaud, 1838) * ''Zebina'' (''Zebina'') ''tridentata'' (Michaud, 1830) - originally described as ''Rissoa tridentata'' Michaud, 1830

Publications

*MICHAUD G., 1831a – ''Description de plusieurs espèces de Coquilles du genre Rissoa (Fréminville)''. Lyon, impr. Perrin, 16 p., 1 pl. *MICHAUD G., 1831b – ''Complément de l’Histoire naturelle des mollusques terrestres et fluviatiles de la France, de J. P. R. Draparnaud''. Paris, Strasbourg, Lyon et Verdun-Meuse, Lippmann, I-XVI, 116 p., 3 pl. (XIV-XVI) *MICHAUD G., 1833 – ''Catalogue des Testacés vivans, terrestres et fluviatiles envoyés d’Alger par M. Rozet, au cabinet d’Histoire naturelle de Strasbourg. Notice présentée à la société d’Histoire naturelle de la même ville''. Mémoires de la Société d’Histoire naturelle de Strasbourg, 1 830-1833 22 p., 1 pl. *MICHAUD G., 1855 – ''Description des Coquilles fossiles découvertes dans les environs d’Hauterives (Drôme)''. Annales de la Société linnéenne de Lyon, 2e série : 33-64, 2 pl. *MICHAUD G., 1862 – ''Description des Coquilles fossiles découvertes des environs d’Hauterives (Drôme)''. Journal de Conchyliologie, 3e série, 2 (10) : 58-84, 2 pl. *MICHAUD G., 1876 – ''Description des Coquilles fossiles découvertes dans les environs d’Hauterives (Drôme''). Lyon 866 28 p., *MICHAUD G., 1877 – ''Description des Coquilles fossiles découvertes dans les environs d’Hauterives (Drôme)'', 3e fascicule. Lyon-Paris 866 28 p., 3 pl.

References

External links

* * Boyer F. & Audibert C. (2007) "Histoire et situation actuelle des collections malacologiques de Gaspard Michaud (1795-1880)". ''Cahiers scientifiques'', Département du Rhône - Musée des Confluences, Lyon, 13(2007): 111-128
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Michaud, Gaspard 1795 births 1880 deaths French malacologists Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur