Robert Friedrich Wilhelm Mertens (1 December 1894 – 23 August 1975) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

herpetologist 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 ...

. Several taxa of reptiles are named after him.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii. ("Mertens", p. 176; "Robert", p. 223; "Robert Mertens", p. 223). He postulated

Mertensian mimicry Emsleyan mimicry, also called Mertensian mimicry, describes an unusual type of mimicry where a deadly prey mimics a less dangerous species. History Emsleyan mimicry was first proposed by M. G. Emsley as a possible explanation for how a predat ...

. Mertens was born in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. He moved to Germany in 1912, where he earned a doctorate in zoology from the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 Decemb ...

in 1915. During World War I he served in the German army. Mertens worked at the

Senckenberg Museum The Naturmuseum Senckenberg is a museum of natural history, located in Frankfurt am Main. It is the second-largest of its type in Germany. The museum contains a large and diverse collection of birds with 90,000 bird skins, 5,050 egg sets, 17,0 ...

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

for many years, beginning as an assistant in 1919, and retiring as director emeritus in 1960. He also became a lecturer at

Goethe University Frankfurt Goethe University (german: link=no, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main) is a university located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It was founded in 1914 as a citizens' university, which means it was founded and funded by the wealt ...

in 1932, and became a Professor there in 1939. Both jobs provided him with ample time for extensive travel and the study of lizards. He collected specimens in 30 countries. During World War II, he evacuated most of the collections of the Senckenberg Museum to small towns. He also had German soldiers who were fighting overseas collect and ship specimens to him. He was the author of several books on zoology, including ''La Vie des Amphibiens et Reptiles'' (1959). Mertens described at least 64 reptile species, and numerous amphibian species. Nine species and two subspecies of reptiles have been named after Mertens:Reptile subspecies named after Mertens
according to the

Reptile Database The Reptile Database is a scientific database that collects taxonomic information on all living reptile species (i.e. no fossil species such as dinosaurs). The database focuses on species (as opposed to higher ranks such as families) and has entrie ...

. '' Amblyrhynchus cristatus mertensi'' (San Cristóbal Marine Iguana), '' Amphisbaena roberti'' (Robert's worm lizard), '' Chalcides mertensi'' (Algerian three-toed skink), '' Cryptoblepharus mertensi'' (Mertens' snake-eyed skink), ''

Erythrolamprus mertensi ''Erythrolamprus mertensi'', Mertens's tropical forest snake, is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species is found in Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Boli ...

'' (Mertens' tropical forest snake), '' Liolaemus robertmertensi'' (Robert's tree iguana), '' Micrurus mertensi'' (Mertens' coral snake), '' Phalotris mertensi'' (Mertens' lizard-eating snake), ''

Phelsuma robertmertensi Robert Mertens's day gecko (''Phelsuma robertmertensi'') is diurnal species of lizard in the family Gekkonidae. The species is endemic to the Comoros. Etymology The specific name, ''robertmertensi'', is in honour of German herpetologist Robert ...

'' (Mertens' day gecko), '' Tropidoclonion lineatum mertensi'' (Mertens' lined snake), and '' Varanus mertensi'' (Mertens' water monitor). Also '' Vanderhorstia mertensi'' (Mertens' shrimp goby) has been named after him. Mertens died after being bitten while feeding his pet savanna twigsnake, '' Thelotornis capensis''. Because no applicable antivenom existed at that time, he suffered for 18 days before dying. He kept a diary of his deteriorating condition, noting that it was the "''für einen Herpetologen einzig angemessene Ende''" (the only appropriate demise for a herpetologist).

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