Samuel Booker McDowell Jr. (1928–2014) was an American herpetologist who worked on the comparative anatomy of turtles and snakes, and studied snakes of Oceania. McDowell earned a B.Sc. (1947) and a Ph.D. (1957) from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, and worked at the

American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. In Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 26 inter ...

. His zoological author abbreviation is McDowell. Several snakes are named in his honor. www.reptile-database.org.

Some taxa authored

*''

Acrochordus arafurae :''Common names: Arafura File snake, Elephant Trunk Snake or wrinkle file snake.'' ''Acrochordus arafurae'' is an aquatic snake species found in northern Australia and New Guinea. No subspecies are currently recognized. This snake was first desc ...

'' * Emydinae *

Pseudoxenodontinae Pseudoxenodontinae is a small subfamily of colubroid snakes, sometimes referred to as a family (Pseudoxenodontidae). They are found in southern and southeastern Asia, from northeast India to southern China (including Taiwan) and south into Indon ...

* Salomonelaps

Eponyms

The following four snakes are named in honor of McDowell. Beolens, B.; Watkins, M.; Grayson, M. (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (McDowell, p. 173). *''

Hydrophis macdowelli The small-headed sea snake (''Hydrophis macdowelli'') is sea snake Sea snakes, or coral reef snakes, are elapid snakes that inhabit marine environments for most or all of their lives. They belong to two subfamilies, Hydrophiinae and Laticaud ...

'' *''

Tropidonophis mcdowelli ''Tropidonophis mcdowelli'', the northern New Guinea keelback, is a species of colubrid snake. It is found in northern New Guinea in both Papua New Guinea and Western New Guinea. Its specific name honors Samuel B. McDowell, American herpetologist ...

'' *'' Gerrhopilus mcdowelli'' *'' Candoia paulsoni mcdowelli'' ''

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 ...

Selected publications

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McDowell, Samuel B. 1928 births 2014 deaths American herpetologists Place of birth missing Place of death missing Columbia University alumni People associated with the American Museum of Natural History