André Marie Constant Duméril (1 January 1774 – 14 August 1860) was a French

zoologist Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoology is one ...

. He was professor of

anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of morphology concerned with the study of the internal structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old scien ...

at the

Muséum national d'histoire naturelle The French National Museum of Natural History ( ; abbr. MNHN) is the national natural history museum of France and a of higher education part of Sorbonne University. The main museum, with four galleries, is located in Paris, France, within the Ja ...

from 1801 to 1812, when he became professor of

herpetology Herpetology (from Ancient Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is a branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, salamanders, and caecilians (Gymnophiona)) and reptiles (in ...

and

ichthyology Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish (Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha). According to FishBase, 35,800 species of fish had been described as of March 2 ...

. His son

Auguste Duméril Auguste Henri André Duméril (30 November 1812 – 12 November 1870) was a French zoologist. His father, André Marie Constant Duméril (1774–1860), was also a zoologist. In 1869 he was elected as a member of the Académie des sciences. Dum ...

was also a zoologist, and the author citation Duméril is used for both André and his son.

Life

André Marie Constant Duméril was born on 1 January 1774 in

Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; , or ) is a city and Communes of France, commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme (department), Somme Departments of France, department in the region ...

and died on 14 August 1860 in Paris. He became a doctor at a young age, obtaining, at 19 years, the ''prévot'' of anatomy at the medical school of

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine, in northwestern France. It is in the prefecture of Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one ...

. In 1800, he left for

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and collaborated in the drafting of the

comparative anatomy Comparative anatomy is the study of similarities and differences in the anatomy of different species. It is closely related to evolutionary biology and phylogeny (the evolution of species). The science began in the classical era, continuing in t ...

lessons of

Georges Cuvier Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric, baron Cuvier (23 August 1769 – 13 May 1832), known as Georges Cuvier (; ), was a French natural history, naturalist and zoology, zoologist, sometimes referred to as the "founding father of paleontology". Cuv ...

. He replaced Cuvier at the Central School of the

Panthéon The Panthéon (, ), is a monument in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, France. It stands in the Latin Quarter, Paris, Latin Quarter (Quartier latin), atop the , in the centre of the , which was named after it. The edifice was built between 1758 ...

and had, as his colleague,

Alexandre Brongniart Alexandre Brongniart (5 February 17707 October 1847) was a French chemist, mineralogist, geologist, paleontologist, and zoologist, who collaborated with Georges Cuvier on a study of the geology of the region around Paris. Observing fossil conten ...

. In 1801, he gave courses to the medical school of Paris. Under the ''Restauration'', he was elected a member of the

Académie des Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (, ) is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French Scientific method, scientific research. It was at the forefron ...

(French Academy of Sciences) and after 1803 succeeded Lacépède, who was occupied by his political offices, as professor of herpetology and ichthyology at the

. Duméril only officially received this chair in 1825, after the death of Lacépède. He published his ''Zoologie analytique'' in 1806. This covered the whole of the animal kingdom and shows the relations between genera as then distinguished, but not among

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

. He was elected a member of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

in 1813. In 1832,

Gabriel Bibron Gabriel Bibron (20 October 1805 – 27 March 1848) was a French zoologist and herpetologist. He was born in Paris. The son of an employee of the Museum national d'histoire naturelle, he had a good foundation in natural history and was ...

(1806–1848), who became his assistant, was given the task of describing the species for an expanded version of ''Zoologie analytique'', while

Nicolaus Michael Oppel Nicolaus Michael Oppel (December 7, 1782 in Schönficht – February 16, 1820 in Munich) was a German naturalist. He was a student of, and worked as an assistant to, André Marie Constant Duméril (1774-1860) at the Muséum national d'histoire na ...

(1782–1820) assisted him with a revised higher-order

systematics Systematics is the study of the diversification of living forms, both past and present, and the relationships among living things through time. Relationships are visualized as evolutionary trees (synonyms: phylogenetic trees, phylogenies). Phy ...

. After the death of Bibron, he was replaced by

, André's son. However, Bibron's death delayed the publication of the new work for 10 years. In 1851, the two Dumérils, father and son, published the ''Catalogue méthodique de la collection des reptiles'' (although Auguste was apparently the true author) and in 1853, André Duméril alone published ''Prodrome de la classification des reptiles ophidiens''. This last book proposes a classification of all the snakes in seven volumes. Duméril, upon discovering a case of preserved fishes in the attic of the house of

Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (; 7 September 1707 – 16 April 1788) was a French Natural history, naturalist, mathematician, and cosmology, cosmologist. He held the position of ''intendant'' (director) at the ''Jardin du Roi'', now ca ...

, finally described the species that had been collected by Philibert Commerson nearly 70 years earlier. He then published a very important work, ''l’Erpétologie générale ou Histoire naturelle complète des reptiles'' (nine volumes, 1834–1854). In this, 1,393 species are described in detail and their anatomy, physiology, and bibliography are specified. However, Duméril maintained the amphibians among the reptiles in spite of the work of

Pierre André Latreille Pierre André Latreille (; 29 November 1762 – 6 February 1833) was a French zoology, zoologist, specialising in arthropods. Having trained as a Roman Catholic priest before the French Revolution, Latreille was imprisoned, and only regained hi ...

or the anatomical discoveries of

Karl Ernst von Baer Karl Ernst Ritter von Baer Edler von Huthorn (; – ) was a Baltic German scientist and explorer. Baer was a naturalist, biologist, geologist, meteorologist, geographer, and is considered a, or the, founding father of embryology. He was a m ...

(1792–1876) and

Johannes Peter Müller Johannes Peter Müller (14 July 1801 – 28 April 1858) was a German physiologist, comparative anatomist, ichthyologist, and herpetologist, known not only for his discoveries but also for his ability to synthesize knowledge. The paramesonephri ...

(1801–1858). He was interested all his life in the

insects Insects (from Latin ') are hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs of jointed ...

and published several memoirs on entomology. His principal entomological work is ''Entomologie analytique'' (1860, two volumes). With his son Auguste, also a zoologist, he created the first vivarium for reptiles of the

Jardin des Plantes The Jardin des Plantes (, ), also known as the Jardin des Plantes de Paris () when distinguished from other ''jardins des plantes'' in other cities, is the main botanical garden in France. Jardin des Plantes is the official name in the present da ...

. Duméril always considered observations on animal behaviour of taxonomic significance. After 1853, he began to cede his position to his son and he retired completely in 1857. He was made a commander of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

two months before his death.

Species named after A.M.C. Duméril

*The worm '' Platynereis dumerilii'' *The Greater Amberjack fish '' Seriola dumerili'' *The bryozoan, '' Callopora dumerilii'' *The moth '' Luperina dumerilii'' *The

isopod Isopoda is an Order (biology), order of crustaceans. Members of this group are called isopods and include both Aquatic animal, aquatic species and Terrestrial animal, terrestrial species such as woodlice. All have rigid, segmented exoskeletons ...

'' Rocinela dumerilii'' *The aquatic

crustacean Crustaceans (from Latin meaning: "those with shells" or "crusted ones") are invertebrate animals that constitute one group of arthropods that are traditionally a part of the subphylum Crustacea (), a large, diverse group of mainly aquatic arthrop ...

'' Sphaeroma dumerilii'' *The Filefish '' Cantherhines dumerilii'' *The Lizard '' Acanthodactylus dumerilii'' Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Duméril", p. 77). * The Boa Snake '' Acrantophis dumerili'' *The wolf snake '' Lycodon dumerili'' *The coral snake '' Micrurus dumerilii'' *The Amazon River Turtle '' Peltocephalus dumerilianus'' *The lizard '' Stenocercus dumerilii'' *The Snake '' Urotheca dumerilii'' *The Monitor Lizard '' Varanus dumerilii''

References

External links

Duméril's classification of the insects
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dumeril, Andre Marie Constant 1774 births 1860 deaths Commanders of the Legion of Honour French entomologists French ichthyologists French herpetologists Members of the French Academy of Sciences People from Amiens Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery National Museum of Natural History (France) people 19th-century French zoologists Duméril (used also for his son) International members of the American Philosophical Society

Life

Species named after A.M.C. Duméril

See also

References

External links