Wilfred T. Neill (1922–2001) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

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 ...

and author. His name survives in the

scientific names 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 ...

of the central Florida crowned snake, ''Tantilla relicta neilli'', and a Central American snail-eating snake, ''Sibon sanniolus neilli''.

Biography

Wilfred Trammell Neill, Jr., was born in

Augusta, Georgia Augusta ( ), officially Augusta–Richmond County, is a consolidated city-county on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The city lies across the Savannah River from South Carolina at the head of its navig ...

, on January 12, 1922. He graduated at the age of 19 with a

B.S. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

from the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

. He served in the

Army Air Force The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

in the South Pacific during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Research

After the war, Neill taught

Biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

and

Zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

in Augusta, Georgia, at Richmond Academy and Augusta Junior College. In 1949, he joined E. Ross Allen's Reptile Institute in

Silver Springs, Florida Silver Springs is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Marion County, Florida, United States. It is the site of Silver Springs, a group of artesian springs and a historic tourist attraction that is now part of Sil ...

, as Research Director. Neill was the first to describe the Everglades rat snake (''Elaphe obsoleta rossalleni'', a

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

of ''

Elaphe obsoleta ''Pantherophis obsoletus'', also known commonly as the western rat snake, black rat snake, pilot black snake, or simply black snake, is a nonvenomous species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species is native to central North America. Th ...

'', 1949), the Gulf hammock dwarf siren (''Pseudobranchus striatus lustricolus'', a subspecies of '' Pseudobranchus striatus'', 1951), the

one-toed amphiuma The one-toed amphiuma (''Amphiuma pholeter'') is an aquatic, eel-like salamander native to the southeastern United States. It was unknown to science until 1950, when it was collected by herpetologist W. T. Neill. It is rarely observed in the ...

(''Amphiuma pholeter'', 1964), and the southern Florida rainbow snake (''Farancia erytrogramma seminola'', a subspecies of ''

Farancia erytrogramma ''Farancia erytrogramma'' (also known commonly as the rainbow snake, and less frequently as the eel moccasin) is a species of large, nonvenomous, highly aquatic, colubrid snake, which is endemic to coastal plains of the southeastern United State ...

'', 1964). In 1966, herpetologist Sam Rountree Telford, Jr. honored Neill by giving his name to a newly described subspecies of the Florida crowned snake (''

Tantilla relicta The Florida crowned snake (''Tantilla relicta'') is a species of colubrid snake endemic to Florida. It is a small, slender, non-venomous snake that is rarely seen. The species is commonly found in north and central Florida, and is most often asso ...

''), naming it ''Tantilla relicta neilli''. Similarly, a subspecies of pygmy snail-eating snake, '' Sibon sanniolus neilli'', was named in his honor by

Henderson Henderson may refer to: People *Henderson (surname), description of the surname, and a list of people with the surname *Clan Henderson, a Scottish clan Places Argentina *Henderson, Buenos Aires Australia *Henderson, Western Australia Canada *He ...

, Hoevers, and

Wilson Wilson may refer to: People * Wilson (name) ** List of people with given name Wilson ** List of people with surname Wilson * Wilson (footballer, 1927–1998), Brazilian manager and defender * Wilson (footballer, born 1984), full name Wilson Ro ...

in 1977.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Neill", p. 188). In 1956 Neill's The Story of Florida's Seminole Indians was published by Great Outdoors Publishing of St Petersburg, Florida. The book and photos tell the history and culture of these people and includes two excellent drawings by the author. Neill published an influential work on

crocodile Crocodiles (family (biology), family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term crocodile is sometimes used even more loosely to inclu ...

biology in 1971: ''The Last of the Ruling Reptiles: Alligators, Crocodiles, and their Kin''.

Illness and death

Neill's health suffered a decline after a nearly fatal snakebite in 1978. It was the forty-first time he had been bitten by a venomous snake. He died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

on February 19, 2001, in

Lakeland, Florida Lakeland is the most populous city in Polk County, Florida, part of the Tampa Bay Area, located along Interstate 4 east of Tampa. According to the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau release, the city had a population of 112,641. Lakeland is a principal c ...

References

External links

Florida Museum of Natural History Crocodile Specialist Group newsletter (vol. 20, no. 1, 2001)

Obituary: Center for North American Herpetology
{{DEFAULTSORT:Neill, Wilfred T. 1922 births 2001 deaths American herpetologists University of Georgia alumni United States Army Air Forces soldiers United States Army personnel of World War II 20th-century American zoologists