François Auguste Péron (22 August 1775 – 14 December 1810) was a French naturalist and

explorer Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

Life

Péron was born in

Cérilly, Allier Cérilly () is a commune in the Allier department in central France. It is in close proximity to the largest and oldest untouched oak forest in western Europe: the Forest of Tronçais. Many oak trees exceed 250 years in age. The Troncais (pron ...

, in 1775, the son of a tailor (not a harness maker as is frequently asserted). Although intended for the priesthood, due to the

Revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

, Péron reluctantly joined the 2nd Allier Volunteer Battalion in 1792 and helped defend besieged

Landau Landau ( pfl, Landach), officially Landau in der Pfalz, is an autonomous (''kreisfrei'') town surrounded by the Südliche Weinstraße ("Southern Wine Route") district of southern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a university town (since 1990) ...

. In the following year he was wounded and taken prisoner by Prussian forces near Hochspeyer in the Pfalzwald. Imprisoned in the fortress of

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebu ...

he was not repatriated to France until 1794. Having lost the sight of an eye, Péron was invalided out of the army. For two years he was Town Clerk in Cérilly before gaining a scholarship to study medicine in Paris. While in Paris, Péron changed interests towards zoology, spending time at the Muséum d'histoire naturelle. In 1800, after an unhappy love affair, he sought to join

Nicolas Baudin Nicolas Thomas Baudin (; 17 February 1754 – 16 September 1803) was a French explorer, cartographer, naturalist and hydrographer, most notable for his explorations in Australia and the southern Pacific. Biography Early career Born a comm ...

's expedition to Australian waters as an anthropological observer. Instead he was appointed as a trainee zoologist. During the voyage, which charted significant stretches of the Australian coast between 1801 and 1803, Péron clashed repeatedly with Baudin. When Stanislas Levillain and

René Maugé René (''born again'' or ''reborn'' in French) is a common first name in French-speaking, Spanish-speaking, and German-speaking countries. It derives from the Latin name Renatus. René is the masculine form of the name ( Renée being the feminin ...

died, Péron rose to prominence as the sole remaining zoologist. (Baudin had already lost numerous officers, sailors, savants and artists who deserted in

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It ...

.) With the aid of the artist

Charles Alexandre Lesueur Charles Alexandre Lesueur (1 January 1778 in Le Havre – 12 December 1846 in Le Havre) was a French naturalist, artist, and explorer. He was a prolific natural-history collector, gathering many type specimens in Australia, Southeast Asia, ...

, Péron was largely responsible for gathering some 100,000 zoological specimens—the most comprehensive Australian natural history collection to date. Although he died before he could fully study his specimens, Péron made a major contribution to the foundations of the natural sciences in Australia and was a prescient ecological thinker. He was also a pioneer oceanographer who conducted important experiments on sea water temperatures at depth. As a Corresponding Member of the '' Société des observateurs de l'homme'', Péron wrote a great deal about the

Tasmanian Aborigines The Aboriginal Tasmanians (Palawa kani: ''Palawa'' or ''Pakana'') are the Aboriginal people of the Australian island of Tasmania, located south of the mainland. For much of the 20th century, the Tasmanian Aboriginal people were widely, and ...

of the D'Entrecasteaux Channel, on south-eastern

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

. Within 30 years almost all were dead through disease and war. The Australian historian

Edward Duyker Edward Duyker (born 21 March 1955) is an Australian historian, biographer and author born in Melbourne. Edward Duyker's books include several ethno-histories – ''Tribal Guerrillas'' (1987), ''The Dutch in Australia'' (1987) and ''Of the Star ...

has shown that he has been unfairly accused of

polygenism Polygenism is a theory of human origins which posits the view that the human races are of different origins (''polygenesis''). This view is opposite to the idea of monogenism, which posits a single origin of humanity. Modern scientific views no ...

and racism, mainly because of a mistranslation of extracts from one of his scientific papers. Baudin died before he could return to France, and it was Péron who began writing the official account of the expedition: ''Voyage de découvertes aux Terres Australes''. In doing so, he committed a great injustice to his former commander's memory by magnifying his faults and frequently distorting the historical record. In the wake of the resumed fighting between France and Britain, Péron also drafted a secret ''Mémoire sur les établissements anglais à la Nouvelle Hollande'', which advocated a French conquest of

Port Jackson Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The harbour is an inlet of the Tasman Sea ...

with the aid of rebellious Irish convicts. Péron died of tuberculosis in his hometown of Cérilly in 1810. He was just thirty-five years old. The task of completing the official account of the expedition fell to Louis de Freycinet.

Taxa In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular nam ...
named in honour of Péron

Several

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 ...

of reptiles, amphibians and mammals were named in honour of Péron: *'' Litoria peronii'' ( Tschudi, 1838) – Péron’s treefrog (

Hylidae Hylidae is a wide-ranging family of frogs commonly referred to as "tree frogs and their allies". However, the hylids include a diversity of frog species, many of which do not live in trees, but are terrestrial or semiaquatic. Taxonomy and ...

)Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2013). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Amphibians''. Exeter, England: Pelagic Publishing Ltd. xiii + 262 pp. . ("Péron", p. 166). *'' Limnodynastes peronii'' ( A.M.C. Duméril & Bibron, 1841) – striped marsh frog ( Limnodynastidae) *'' Carlia peronii'' (A.M.C. Duméril & Bibron, 1839) – Timor rainbow skink ( Scincidae)Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Péron", p. 203). *'' Hemiergis peronii'' (

Gray Grey (more common in British English) or gray (more common in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning literally that it is "without color", because it can be composed o ...

, 1831) - lowland earless skink (Scincidae) *''

Acalyptophis peronii ''Hydrophis peronii'', commonly known as the horned sea snake, Peron's sea snake, and the spiny-headed seasnake, is a species of venomous snake in the subfamily Hydrophiinae of the family Elapidae. The species is endemic to the western tropic ...

'' (A.M.C. Duméril, 1853) – spiny seasnake (

Elapidae Elapidae (, commonly known as elapids ; grc, ἔλλοψ ''éllops'' "sea-fish") is a family of snakes characterized by their permanently erect fangs at the front of the mouth. Most elapids are venomous, with the exception of the genus Emydoce ...

) *''

Lissodelphis peronii The southern right whale dolphin (''Lissodelphis peronii'') is a small and slender species of cetacean, found in cool waters of the Southern Hemisphere. It is one of two species of right whale dolphin (genus ''Lissodelphis''). This genus is char ...

'' ( Lacépède, 1804) – southern right whale dolphin (

Delphinidae Oceanic dolphins or Delphinidae are a widely distributed family of dolphins that live in the sea. Close to forty extant species are recognised. They include several big species whose common names contain "whale" rather than "dolphin", such as the ...

) *'' Phyllorhiza peronlesueuri'' (

Goy In modern Hebrew and Yiddish (, he, גוי, regular plural , or ) is a term for a gentile, a non-Jew. Through Yiddish, the word has been adopted into English (pluralised as goys or goyim) also to mean gentile, sometimes with a pejorative se ...

, 1990) – a jellyfish ( Mastigiidae).Collins, A. G.; Jarms, G.; Morandini, A. C. (2019). World List of Scyphozoa. Phyllorhiza peronlesueuri Goy, 1990. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=287185 on 2019-04-16 The specific epithet also honors Charles Alexandre Lesueur of the Baudin expedition.

Taxa described by Péron

In the 1807 first volume of ''Voyage de découvertes aux Terres Australes'', Péron described a number of frog species collected on his travels, but most are considered

incertae sedis ' () or ''problematica'' is a term used for a taxonomic group where its broader relationships are unknown or undefined. Alternatively, such groups are frequently referred to as "enigmatic taxa". In the system of open nomenclature, uncertain ...

today i.e. ''Rana pollicifera'' and ''Rana pustulosa'' in Anura, ''Hyla ianopoda, Hyla nebulosa, Hyla ocellata'' and ''Hyla rubeola'' in

Pelodryadinae Pelodryadinae, also known as Australian treefrogs (although not all members are arboreal), is a subfamily of frogs found in the region of Australia and New Guinea, and have also been introduced to New Caledonia, Guam, New Zealand, and Vanuatu. ...

, and ''Bufo leucogaster'' and ''Bufo proteus'' in Myobatrachidae. ''Hyla cyanea'' was synonymised with ''

Litoria caerulea The Australian green tree frog (''Ranoidea caerulea''), also known as simply green tree frog in Australia, White's tree frog, or dumpy tree frog, is a species of tree frog native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in th ...

'' (

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

, 1790) - White's treefrog, but ''Hyla citripoda'' does survive as a valid species, '' Litoria citropa'' (Péron, 1807) - Blue Mountains treefrog. See also :Taxa named by François Péron.

Publications

—— Observations sur l’anthropologie, ou l’Histoire naturelle de l’homme, la nécessité de s’occuper de l’avancement de cette science, et l’importance de l’admission sur la Flotte du capitaine Baudin d’un ou de plusieurs Naturalistes, spécialement chargés des Recherches à faire sur cet objet, Stoupe, Paris, an VIII

800 __NOTOC__ Year 800 ( DCCC) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. It was around this time that the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years, so ...

—— Voyage de découvertes aux Terres Australes, exécuté par ordre de sa Majesté, l’Empereur et Roi, sur les corvettes le Géographe, le Naturaliste et la goëlette le Casuarina, pendant les années 1800, 1801, 1802, 1803 et 1804, L’Imprimerie Impériale, 3 vols and atlas, Paris, 1807–17; vol. i, Historique, 1807; vol. ii, Historique ompleted by L. de Freycinet 1816; vol. iii, Navigation et géographie y L. de Freycinet 1815; Atlas historique y C. A. Leseur & N. Petit 1817. —— A Voyage of Discovery to the Southern Hemisphere Performed by Order of the Emperor Napoleon, During the Years 1801, 1802, 1803, and 1804, printed for Richard Phillips, Bridge Street, Blackfriars, by B. McMillan, Bow Street, Covent Garden, London, 1809. Péron, F. nd de Freycinet, L. Voyage de découvertes aux Terres Australes, fait par ordre du gouvernement, sur les corvettes le Géographe, le Naturaliste et la goëlette le Casuarina, pendant les années 1800, 1801, 1802, 1803 et 1804, 4 vols and atlas, Paris, 1824. —— Voyage of Discovery to the Southern Lands, by François Péron, continued by Louis de Freycinet, 2nd edn 1824: Book IV, Comprising Chapters XXII to XXXIV (trans. C. Cornell; introduction by Anthony J. Brown), Friends of the State Library of South Australia, Adelaide, 2003. —— Entdeckungs-Reise nach den Süd-Ländern ausgefürt auf Befehl Sr. Majestät des Kaisers und Königs, auf den Corvetten dem Geographen, dem Naturalisten und der Golette dem Casuarina, während der Jahre 1800, 1801, 1802, 1803 und 1804 (trans. Ph. W. G. Hausleutner), J. G. Cotta’schen Buchhandlung, Tübingen, 2 vols, 1808–19. Péron, F. A. nd de Freycinet. L. Entdeckungsreise nach Australien unternommen auf Befehl Sr. Majestät des Kaisers von Frankreich und Königs von Italien mit den Korvetten der Geograph und der Naturalist, und der goelette Kasuarina in den Jahren 1800 bis 1804 (trans. T. F. Ehrmann), Verlage des Landes-Industrie-Comptoirs, Weimar, 2 vols, 1808–19. Péron, F., ‘Discours préliminaire d’un travail sur les Méduses’, Procès-verbaux des séances de l’Académie, Classe des Sciences physiques et mathématiques, tome iv, séances du 21 novembre 1808, 28 novembre 1808 et 19 décembre 1808, pp. 136, 140, 147. —— ‘Inventaire général de tous les objets relatifs à l’histoire de l’homme recueillis pendant le cours de l’expédition ou remis à M. Péron, naturaliste zoologiste du Gouvernement dans cette expédition, et présentés par M. Geoffroy et lui à Sa Majesté l’Impératrice Joséphine le 9 prairial an XII 9 May 1804�� in Copans, J. and Jamin, J. (eds), Aux origines de l’anthropologie française: Les Mémoires de la Société des Observateurs de l’Homme en l’an VIII, Le Sycomore, Paris, 1978, pp. 195–203. —— ‘Mémoire sur le nouveau genre Pyrosoma’, Annales du Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, tome 4, an XII (1804), pp. 437–46, planche 72. —— ‘Mémoire sur les établissement anglais à la Nouvelle Hollande, à la Terre de Diemen et dans les archipels du grand océan Pacifique …‘, présentation, édition et notes de Roger Martin, transcription du manuscrit avec le concours de Jacqueline Bonnemains, préface de Joël Eymeret, Revue de l’Institut Napoléon, No. 176, 1998, I, pp. 1–187. —— ‘Mémoire sur quelques faits zoologiques applicables à la théorie du globe, lu à la Classe des Sciences physiques et mathématiques de l’Institut national (Séance du 30 vendémiaire an XIII)’, Journal de physique, de chimie, d’histoire naturelle et des arts, vol. 59, 1804, pp. 463–80, planches i, ii. —— ‘Notice d’un mémoire sur les animaux observés pendant la traversée de Timor au Cap Sud de la Terre de Van Diemen’, Bulletin des sciences de la Société philomatique, no. xi, 8e année, tome iii, no. 95, pluviôse an 13 ecember 1804–January 1805 pp. 269–70. —— ‘Notice sur quelques applications utiles des observations météorologiques à l’hygiène navale’, Journal de physique, de chimie, d’histoire naturelle et des arts, vol. 67, 1808, pp. 29–43. —— ‘Observations sur la dyssenterie des pays chauds et sur l’usage du bétel’, Journal de physique, de chimie, d’histoire naturelle et des arts, vol. 59, 1804, pp. 290–9. —— ‘Réponse de M. Péron, naturaliste de l’expédition de découvertes aux Terres Australes aux observations critiques de M. Dumont sur le tablier des femmes Hottentotes’, Journal de physique, de chimie et d’histoire naturelle, tome lxi, 1805, pp. 210–17. —— ‘Sur la température de la mer soit à sa surface, soit à diverses profondeurs’, Annales du Muséum national d’histoire naturelle, tome 5, an XIII (1804), pp. 123–48 [English translation: ‘Fragment from Peron, with notices from other voyagers, on the Temperature of the Sea, at great depths, far from Land’, American Journal of Science, vol. xvii, 1830, pp. 295–9]. Péron, F. and Lesueur, C.-A., ‘Observations sur le tablier des femmes Hottentotes, avec une note sur l’expédition française aux Terres Australes, et une étude critique sur la stéatopygie et le tablier des femmes Boschimanes, par le Dr Raphaël Blanchard’, Bulletin de la Société zoologique de France, vol. 8, 1883, pp. 15–33. —— ‘Des caractères génériques et spécifiques de toutes les espèces de Méduses connues jusqu’à ce jour’, Annales du Muséum national d’histoire naturelle, tome 14, 1809, pp. 325–66. —— ‘Histoire de la famille des Molluques Ptéropodes’, Annales du Muséum national d’histoire naturelle, tome 15, 1810, pp. 57–69, 2 planches. —— ‘Histoire du genre Firole: Firola’, Annales du Muséum national d’histoire naturelle, tome 15, 1810, pp. 76–82. —— ‘Histoire générale et particulière de tous les animaux qui composent la famillle des Méduses’, Annales du Muséum national d’histoire naturelle, tome 14, 1809, pp. 218–28. —— ‘La conservation des diverses espèces d’animation dans l’alcool’, Journal de physique de chimie, d’histoire naturelle et des arts, vol. 71, octobre 1810, pp. 265–88. —— ‘Notice sur l’habitation des animaux marins’, Annales du Muséum national d’histoire naturelle, tome 15, 1810, pp. 287–92. —— ‘Notice sur l’habitation des phoques’, Annales du Muséum national d’histoire naturelle, tome 15, 1810, pp. 293–00. —— ‘Sur les Méduses du genre Equorée’, Annales du Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, tome 15, 1810, pp. 41–56. —— ‘Tableau des caractères génériques et spécifiques de toutes les espèces de Méduses connues jusqu’à ce jour’, Annales du Muséum national d’histoire naturelle, tome 14, 1809

810 __NOTOC__ Year 810 ( DCCCX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Spring – The Venetian dukes change sides again, submitting to Ki ...

pp. 325–66.

References

External links

Biography of Péron
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peron, Francois People from Allier 1775 births 1810 deaths 19th-century deaths from tuberculosis French naturalists Explorers of Australia Explorers of Western Australia Shark Bay 19th-century French people 19th-century explorers Tuberculosis deaths in France

Life

Taxa In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular nam ... named in honour of Péron

Taxa described by Péron

Publications

See also

References

Further reading

External links

Taxa In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular nam ...
named in honour of Péron