John Paul Richard Thomas (born 1938) is an American
taxonomist
In biology, taxonomy () is the scientific study of naming, defining ( circumscribing) and classifying groups of biological organisms based on shared characteristics. Organisms are grouped into taxa (singular: taxon) and these groups are given ...
and
systematist, and retired professor of
herpetology
Herpetology (from Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and caecilians (gymnophiona)) and rept ...
and
evolution
Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...
at
University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras (
San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan (, , ; Spanish for "Saint John") is the capital city and most populous municipality in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2020 census, it is the 57th-largest city under the jur ...
).
[ (Kindle edition). (hardcover).] He described several species new to science, mostly
amphibian
Amphibians are tetrapod, four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the Class (biology), class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terres ...
s and
reptile
Reptiles, as most commonly defined are the animals in the class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, squamates (lizards and snakes) and rhynchocephalians ( ...
s, from throughout the
Caribbean islands
Almost all of the Caribbean islands are in the Caribbean Sea, with only a few in inland lakes. The largest island is Cuba. Other sizable islands include Hispaniola, Jamaica, Puerto Rico and Trinidad and Tobago. Some of the smaller islands are re ...
including the
common coquí (''Eleutherodactlys coqui)'', the national animal of
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...
.
Early life and education
Thomas was born in
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...
, USA, on May 2, 1938. At the
University of South Florida
The University of South Florida (USF) is a public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, and other campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. It is one of 12 members of the State University System of Florida. USF is ...
, Thomas graduated as a
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
in 1969. Later, he went to
Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...
and obtained a PhD in 1976.
Research
Thomas' research has focused mostly on amphibians and reptiles, spanning several fields from natural history to systematics and evolution. His studies have yielded descriptions of new species of dwarf geckos (''
Sphaerodactylus
''Sphaerodactylus'' is a genus of geckos from the Americas that are distinguished from other Gekkota by their small size, by their round, rather than vertical, eye pupils, and by each digit terminating in a single, round adhesive pad or scale, f ...
''), blind snakes (
Scolecophidia
The Scolecophidia, commonly known as blind snakes or thread snakes, are an infraorder of snakes. They range in length from . All are fossorial (adapted for burrowing). Five families and 39 genera are recognized. The Scolecophidia infraorder is mos ...
), and rain frogs (''
Eleutherodactylus
''Eleutherodactylus'' is a genus of frogs in the family Eleutherodactylidae.Hedges, S. B., W. E. Duellman, and M. P. Heinicke . 2008. New World direct-developing frogs (Anura: Terrarana): molecular phylogeny, classification, biogeography, and c ...
'').
[ Wikispecies.]
Taxonomic descriptions
During his career as herpetologist, Thomas has described more than 60 new species.
A non-comprehensive list of described new species includes:
*''
Bachia panoplia''
*''
Mitophis pyrites''
*''
Sphaerodactylus parthenopion''
*''
Typhlops syntherus
''Typhlops syntherus'' (common names: Barahona Peninsula blindsnake, Barahona worm snake ) is a species of snake in the family Typhlopidae. It is endemic to the island of Hispaniola and occurs in both Haiti and the Dominican Republic. It is ov ...
''
*''
Amphisbaena xera''
*''
Eleutherodactylus coqui''
*''
Eleutherodactylus schwartzi''
*''
Sphaerodactylus elasmorhynchus''
*''
Typhlops monastus''
*''
Anolis rimarum''
*''
Cubatyphlops epactius
The Cayman Brac blind snake (''Cubatyphlops epactius'') is a species of snake in the family Typhlopidae. McDiarmid, Roy W.; Campbell, Jonathan A.; Touré, T'Shaka A. (1999). ''Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, Vo ...
''
*''
Celestus agasepsoides''
*''
Amerotyphlops tasymicris''
*''
Typhlops hectus''
*''
Eleutherodactylus probolaeus''
*''
Sphaerodactylus semasiops''
*''
Sphaerodactylus cryphius''
*''
Sphaerodactylus nycteropus''
*''
Sphaerodactylus streptophorus''
*''
Sibynomorphus oneilli''
*''
Bolitoglossa digitigrada''
*''
Sphaerodactylus omoglaux''
*''
Sphaerodactylus williamsi''
*''
Mitophis asbolepis''
*''
Mitophis calypso''
*''
Mitophis leptipileptus''
*''
Eleutherodactylus amadeus
''Eleutherodactylus amadeus'', also known as Mozart's frog or Haitian robber frog, is a species of frog in the family Eleutherodactylidae. It is endemic to the Massif de la Hotte, southwestern Haiti. After not having been seen after 1991, the spec ...
''
*''
Eleutherodactylus parapelates
''Eleutherodactylus parapelates'' is a species of frog in the family Eleutherodactylidae. It is endemic to the Massif de la Hotte in southwestern Haiti. Common names Casillon robber frog ('' sic'' — the type locality is spelled "Castillon") an ...
''
*''
Sphaerodactylus ladae''
*''
Sphaerodactylus perissodactylus''
*''
Anolis placidus''
*''
Celestus macrotus''
*''
Typhlops schwartzi''
*''
Typhlops tetrathyreus''
*''
Typhlops titanops
The titan worm snake (''Typhlops titanops'') is a species of snake in the Typhlopidae family.McDiarmid, Roy W., Jonathan A. Campbell, and T'Shaka A. Touré, 1999. ''Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, vol. 1''
Distr ...
''
*''
Typhlops catapontus''
*''
Typhlops hypomethes''
*''
Eleutherodactylus caribe''
*''
Eleutherodactylus corona
''Eleutherodactylus corona'' is a species of frog in the family Eleutherodactylidae. It is endemic to the Massif de la Hotte, Haiti. The specific name ''corona'' is derived from the Latin word for "crown" and refers to the distinctive tubercles ...
''
*''
Eleutherodactylus dolomedes''
*''
Eleutherodactylus guantanamera
''Eleutherodactylus guantanamera'' is a species of frog in the family Eleutherodactylidae endemic to Cuba. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest. It is threatened b ...
''
*''
Eleutherodactylus ionthus
''Eleutherodactylus ionthus'' is a species of frog in the family Eleutherodactylidae Endemism, endemic to Cuba. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest.
It is threaten ...
''
*''
Eleutherodactylus mariposa''
*''
Eleutherodactylus melacara
''Eleutherodactylus melacara'' is a species of frog in the family Eleutherodactylidae Endemism, endemic to Sierra Maestra, Cuba. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical moist montane fores ...
''
*''
Sphaerodactylus cricoderus''
*''
Sphaerodactylus schwartzi''
*''
Sphaerodactylus plummeri''
*''
Sphaerodactylus epiurus''
*''
Amphisbaena carlgansi''
*''
Diploglossus garridoi''
*''
Sphaerodactylus pimienta''
*''
Sphaerodactylus schuberti''
*''
Sphaerodactylus ariasae
''Sphaerodactylus ariasae'', commonly called the Jaragua sphaero or the Jaragua dwarf gecko, is the smallest species of lizard in the family Sphaerodactylidae.
Description
''Sphaerodactylus ariasae'' is the world's smallest known reptile. The s ...
''
*''
Amphisbaena cayemite''
*''
Amphisbaena leali''
*''
Eleutherodactylus juanariveroi
''Eleutherodactylus juanariveroi'', or the ''Puerto Rican wetland frog'' ( es, coquí llanero), is an endangered species of coqui, a frog species, endemic to Puerto Rico. It was discovered in 2005 by Neftalí Rios, and was named after Puerto Ri ...
''
*''
Typhlops agoralionis''
*''
Typhlops anchaurus''
*''
Typhlops anousius''
*''
Typhlops arator''
*''
Typhlops contorhinus''
*''
Typhlops eperopeus''
*''
Typhlops notorachius''
*''
Typhlops paradoxus''
*''
Typhlops perimychus''
*''
Typhlops proancylops''
*''
Typhlops satelles''
*''
Typhlops sylleptor''
''
Nota bene
(, or ; plural form ) is a Latin phrase meaning "note well".
It is often abbreviated as NB, n.b., or with the ligature
and first appeared in English writing . In Modern English, it is used, particularly in legal papers, to draw the atten ...
'': A
binomial authority
In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...
in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a different
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
.
Eponyms
Richard Thomas is honored in the scientific name of a species of lizard, ''
Liolaemus thomasi''.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Richard
1938 births
American taxonomists
American herpetologists
People from Jacksonville, Florida
University of Puerto Rico faculty
Living people