Edward Harrison Taylor (April 23, 1889 – June 16, 1978) was an American

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 rep ...

from

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

Family

Taylor was born in Maysville, Missouri, to George and Loretta Taylor. He had an older brother, Eugene.

Education

Taylor studied at the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. T ...

Lawrence, Kansas Lawrence is the county seat of Douglas County, Kansas, Douglas County, Kansas, United States, and the sixth-largest city in the state. It is in the northeastern sector of the state, astride Interstate 70, between the Kansas River, Kansas and Waka ...

, graduating with a B.A. in 1912. Field trips during his time at the University of Kansas with Dr. Clarence McClung and Dr. Roy Moody helped prepare Taylor for his future endeavors. Between 1916 and 1920 he returned briefly to Kansas to finish his M.A.

Career

Upon completing his bachelor's degree, Taylor went to the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, where at first he held a teacher's post in a village in central

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...

. He collected and studied the local herpetofauna extensively and published many papers. He returned to the Philippines after completing his master's degree and was appointed Chief of Fisheries in

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populated ...

. On his many survey trips he continued collecting and studying

fish Fish are Aquatic animal, aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack Limb (anatomy), limbs with Digit (anatomy), digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and Chondrichthyes, cartilaginous and bony fish as we ...

es 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 rhynchocephalia ...

s of the islands. In 1927, back in the United States, he became the head of the

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 kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, an ...

department of the University of Kansas at Lawrence. From 1929 to 1936, he studied the

taxonomy Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...

of the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

'' Eumeces'' (some common skinks). Subsequently, he focused on Mexican herpetofauna, which he explored on many field trips from 1937 to 1948. In the following years, his explorations took him to Costa Rica, Sri Lanka and

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

, and he published extensively on all these countries. In 1965, he turned his attention onto

Caecilian Caecilians (; ) are a group of limbless, vermiform or serpentine amphibians. They mostly live hidden in the ground and in stream substrates, making them the least familiar order of amphibians. Caecilians are mostly distributed in the tropics o ...

s after having discovered a new

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

on an island in the Sea of Celebes. Along with his scientific career, Taylor was attached to intelligence operations. After

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he was sent to Siberia to follow the Russian Revolution under the cover of a

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and ...

mission to stop a typhus epidemic. 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 opposing ...

, the OSS employed Taylor to teach jungle survival in British Ceylon.

Research

Taylor described about 120 reptile species that are still recognized today, most of them from the

Philippine Islands The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, but many others from

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

and other parts of the world.

Eponymous taxa

Nine reptile species named in E.H.Taylor's honor are still recognized as valid: Turtles: '' Trachemys taylori'' (Cuatrociénegas slider, from Coahuila, Mexico); Lizards: '' Anolis taylori'' (Taylor's anole, from Guerrero, Mexico), ''

Cyrtodactylus edwardtaylori ''Cyrtodactylus edwardtaylori'' is a species of Asian bent-toed gecko, a lizard in the family Gekkonidae. The species, which is endemic to Sri Lanka, was originally described by Batuwita and Bahir in 2005. Etymology The specific name, ''edwa ...

'' (Badulla bow-fingered gecko, from Sri Lanka), '' Dibamus taylori'' (Lesser Sunda blind lizard, from Lombok to Wetar), ''

Lankascincus taylori ''Lankascincus taylori'', commonly known as Taylor's tree skink, is a species of lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to the island of Sri Lanka. Etymology The specific name, ''taylori'', is in honor of American herpetologi ...

'' (Taylor's tree skink, from Sri Lanka), '' Sceloporus edwardtaylori'' (Taylor's spiny lizard, from Oaxaca, Mexico), '' Sphenomorphus taylori'' (Taylor's wedge skink, from Bougainville, Papua New Guinea), ; Snakes: '' Agkistrodon taylori'' (ornate cantil, from Tamaulipas, Mexico), '' Pseudorabdion taylori'' (Taylor's reedsnake, from Mindanao, Philippines).Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Taylor, E.H.", pp. 261-262). ''Gekko taylori'' (Taylor's gecko, from Thailand) has been synonymized with '' Gekko siamensis'' (Siamese green-eyed gecko). Eleven reptile subspecies named in E.H.Taylor's honor are still recognized as valid: Lizards: '' Brachymeles boulengeri taylori'' (Negros short-legged skink, from Philippines), '' Gerrhonotus liocephalus taylori'' (Taylor's alligator lizard, from Chihuahua, Mexico), '' Lipinia pulchella taylori'' (Negros beautiful lipinia, a skink from the Philippines), ''

Sceloporus occidentalis taylori ''Sceloporus occidentalis taylori'' is a subspecies of the western fence lizard, commonly called the Sierra fence lizard. Several subspecies of the western fence lizard, a species of phrynosomatid lizard, are found in the far western part of Nor ...

'' (Sierra fence lizard, from California), '' Sphenomorphus assatus taylori'' (Taylor's forest skink, from southern Mexico), '' Uta stansburiana taylori'' (Taylor's side-blotched lizard, from Mexico); Snakes: '' Coniophanes picevittis taylori'' (Taylor's black-striped snake, from Mexico), '' Cyclocorus nuchalis taylori'' (Taylor's southern triangle-spotted snake, from southern Philippines), '' Ficimia publia taylori''* (Taylor's blotched hooknose snake, from Yucatán, Mexico), '' Lampropeltis triangulum taylori'' (Utah milksnake, from USA), ''

Micrurus browni taylori ''Micrurus'' is a genus of Venomous snake, venomous coral snakes of the Family (biology), family Elapidae. Geographic range Species in the genus ''Micrurus'' are Endemism, endemic to the Americas. Species The following 83 species are recognized ...

'' (Acapulco coralsnake, from Guerrero, Mexico). *This subspecies is not widely recognised. Eight amphibian species named in E.H.Taylor's honor are still recognized as valid: Frogs: '' Hyalinobatrachium taylori'' (Taylor's glass frog, from the Guianas), '' Platymantis taylori'' Taylor's direct-breeding frog, Sierra Madre, Luzon, Philippines), '' Craugastor taylori'' (Taylor's robber frog, from Chaipas, Mexico), ''

Lithobates taylori The Peralta frog, or montane leopard frog, ''Lithobates taylori'', is a species of frog in the family Ranidae found in Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Etymology The specific name ''taylori'' honors Edward Harrison Taylor (1889–1978), an American h ...

'' (Peralta frog, from eastern Nicaragua & Costa Rica); Salamanders: '' Ambystoma taylori'' (Taylor's salamander, a

neotenic Neoteny (), also called juvenilization,Montagu, A. (1989). Growing Young. Bergin & Garvey: CT. is the delaying or slowing of the physiological, or somatic, development of an organism, typically an animal. Neoteny is found in modern humans compa ...

salamander from Puebla, Mexico), ''

Bolitoglossa taylori Taylor's climbing salamander (''Bolitoglossa taylori'') is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It is found in Panama and possibly Colombia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest A forest i ...

'' (Cerro Cituro salamander, from Darien, Panama), ''

Oedipina taylori ''Oedipina taylori'', commonly known as Taylor's worm salamander, is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It is found on the Pacific versant in south-eastern Guatemala, to central to north-eastern El Salvador and adjacent souther ...

'' (Taylor's worm salamander, from Guatemala, El Salvador & Honduras); Caecilians: '' Microcaecilia taylori'' (Taylor's caecilian, from Suriname).Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2013). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Amphibians''. Exeter, England: Pelagic Publishing Ltd. xiii + 262 pp. . ("Taylor, EH", unnumbered page in Kindle edition).

Publications

Taylor's autobiographical memoir ''Edward H. Taylor: Recollection of an Herpetologist'' was published by the University of Kansas Museum of Natural History in 1975 onograph Series, Publication 4:1-160with contributions from A. Byron Leonard, Hobart M. Smith and George R. Pisani.

References

External links

, Kenneth Spencer Research Library
Guide to the Edward H. Taylor Collection
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Edward Harrison American herpetologists American taxonomists 1889 births 1978 deaths University of Kansas alumni People from Maysville, Missouri 20th-century American zoologists