René Léon Bourret (28 January 1884,

Nérac Nérac (; , ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Lot-et-Garonne Departments of France, department, Southwestern France. The composer and organist Louis Raffy was born in Nérac, as was the former Arsenal F.C., Arsenal and FC Girondins de Bo ...

, (

Lot-et-Garonne Lot-et-Garonne (, ) is a department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of Southwestern France. Named after the rivers Lot and Garonne, it had a population of 331,271 in 2019.herpetologist Herpetology (from Ancient Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is a branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, salamanders, and caecilians (Gymnophiona)) and reptiles (in ...

and

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...

. In 1900, he arrived in

French Indochina French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China), officially known as the Indochinese Union and after 1941 as the Indochinese Federation, was a group of French dependent territories in Southeast Asia from 1887 to 1954. It was initial ...

as a member of the military. Beginning in 1907, he worked as a surveyor for the "

cadastral survey Cadastral surveying is the sub-field of cadastre and surveying that specialises in the establishment and re-establishment of Real estate, real property boundaries. It involves the physical delineation of property boundaries and determination of dim ...

". From 1919 to 1925, he performed geological surveys in

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia (historically known as Indochina and the Indochinese Peninsula) is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to th ...

, becoming a professor in 1925 at the ''École Supérieure des Sciences'', ''Université Indochinoise'' in

Hanoi Hanoi ( ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Vietnam, second-most populous city of Vietnam. The name "Hanoi" translates to "inside the river" (Hanoi is bordered by the Red River (Asia), Red and Black River (Asia), Black Riv ...

. Two years later, he released his first zoological publication, a general review on

vertebrate Vertebrates () are animals with a vertebral column (backbone or spine), and a cranium, or skull. The vertebral column surrounds and protects the spinal cord, while the cranium protects the brain. The vertebrates make up the subphylum Vertebra ...

s native to

. During the ensuing years, he published three major works on herpetofauna native to Indochina: monographs on

snakes Snakes are elongated Limbless vertebrate, limbless reptiles of the suborder Serpentes (). Cladistically Squamata, squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping Scale (zoology), scales much like other members of ...

(1936), chelonians (1941), and

amphibians Amphibians are ectothermic, anamniote, anamniotic, tetrapod, four-limbed vertebrate animals that constitute the class (biology), class Amphibia. In its broadest sense, it is a paraphyletic group encompassing all Tetrapod, tetrapods, but excl ...

(1942). During the Japanese occupation of Indochina, he remained in Hanoi, where he continued regular publications. In 1947, he returned to France and settled in

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

. Most of his specimens are preserved in museums in Toulouse and

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. These herpetological species/subspecies are named after him: * Bourret's blind skink, '' Dibamus bourreti'' * Bourret's box turtle, ''Cuora bourreti'' * Bourret's cat snake, '' Boiga bourreti'' * Bourret's emo skink, '' Emoia laobaoensis'' * Bourret's ground skink, '' Scincella ochracea'' * Bourret's odd-scaled snake, '' Achalinus ater'' * Bourret's pit viper, ''Protobothrops jerdonii bourreti''.

Selected writings

* ''Études géologiques sur le nord-est du Tonkin'', 1922 (dissertation) – Geological studies on northeast

Tonkin Tonkin, also spelled Tongkin, Tonquin or Tongking, is an exonym referring to the northern region of Vietnam. During the 17th and 18th centuries, this term referred to the domain '' Đàng Ngoài'' under Trịnh lords' control, including both the ...

* ''Études géologiques dans la région de Pay-Lay (Moyen Laos)'', 1925 – Geological studies of the Pay-Lay region (Moyen

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

) * ''Les serpents de l'Indochine'', 1936 - Snakes of Indochina * ''Notes herpetologiques sur l'Indochine francaise : no. 1 + 18-25'', 1939-1941 – Herpetological notes on

. * ''Les batraciens de l'Indochine'', 1942 – Amphibians of Indochina * ''Les mammiféres de l'Indochine : les gibbons'', 1947 – Mammals of Indochina,

gibbon Gibbons () are apes in the family Hylobatidae (). The family historically contained one genus, but now is split into four extant genera and 20 species. Gibbons live in subtropical and tropical forests from eastern Bangladesh and Northeast Indi ...

s * ''Les lézards de l'Indochine'' (with Roger Bour) –

Lizards Lizard is the common name used for all squamate reptiles other than snakes (and to a lesser extent amphisbaenians), encompassing over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The ...

of Indochina.WorldCat Titles
(publications)

References

External links

SSARherps Biographies
1884 births 1957 deaths French herpetologists 20th-century French geologists People from Nérac 20th-century French zoologists {{France-scientist-stub

Selected writings

See also

References

External links