François-Louis Nompar de Caumont Laporte, comte de Castelnau (born ''François-Louis Nompar de Caumont La Force''; 24 December 1802 – 4 February 1880) was a French

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

, also known as François Laporte or Francis de Castelnau. The standard author abbreviation Castelnau is used to indicate him when citing a botanical name and zoological names other than insects. Laporte is typically used when citing an insect name, or Laporte de Castelnau.

Life

Born in London, Castelnau studied

natural history Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

in Paris. From 1837 to 1841, he traveled in the United States,

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, and Canada. He visited Middle

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

from November 1837 until March 1838, publishing "Essai sur la Floride du Milieu" in 1843. In Canada, he studied the fauna of the Canadian lakes and the river systems of Upper and

Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada () was a British colonization of the Americas, British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence established in 1791 and abolished in 1841. It covered the southern portion o ...

(roughly corresponding to the modern provinces of

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

and

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

) and of the United States. Castelnau, a French savant, was sent by Louis Philippe, in 1843, with two

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

s and a

taxidermist Taxidermy is the art of preserving an animal's body by mounting (over an armature) or stuffing, for the purpose of display or study. Animals are often, but not always, portrayed in a lifelike state. The word ''taxidermy'' describes the process ...

, on an expedition to cross South America from

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

, following the watershed between the

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

and

La Plata La Plata () is the capital city of Buenos Aires province, Argentina. According to the 2022 Argentina census, census, the La Plata Partido, Partido has a population of 772,618 and its metropolitan area, the Greater La Plata, has 938,287 inhabit ...

river systems, and thence to

Pará Pará () is a Federative units of Brazil, state of Brazil, located in northern Brazil and traversed by the lower Amazon River. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins (state), Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas (Brazilian st ...

. He was gone for five years, with the expedition lasting into 1847. During the expedition, he also collected word lists of various indigenous South American languages, including Bororoan languages and Guachi. In 1856-57, he visited the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( ) is a rocky headland on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A List of common misconceptions#Geography, common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Afri ...

, travelling as far east as

Algoa Bay Algoa Bay is a maritime bay in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. It is located on the east coast, east of the Cape of Good Hope. Algoa Bay is bounded in the west by Cape Recife and in the east by Cape Padrone. The bay is up to deep. The harbour ...

, and subsequently wrote a treatise on South African fish (1861). He served as the French consul in

Bahia Bahia () is one of the 26 Federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo (state), São Paulo, Mina ...

in 1848; in

Siam Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

sometime between 1856 and 1858, and in

Melbourne, Australia Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung/ or ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second most-populous city in Australia, after Sydney. The city's name generally refers to a metropolitan area also known ...

from 1864 to 1877.

Hoax Australian fish

Through no fault of his own, Castelnau's name is attached to an Australian

hoax A hoax (plural: hoaxes) is a widely publicised falsehood created to deceive its audience with false and often astonishing information, with the either malicious or humorous intent of causing shock and interest in as many people as possible. S ...

. "'' Ompax spatuloides''", a supposed ganoid fish said to have been discovered in 1872 and named by Castelnau, was a joke originally directed at Karl Staiger, the director of the Brisbane Museum. Staiger forwarded a sketch and description of the made-up fish to Castelnau, who duly described it.

Legacy

Castelnau is commemorated, among others, in the scientific names of: * a species of Australian gecko, '' Oedura castelnaui'', Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Castelnau", p. 49). * a species of ground beetle, '' Megacephala castelnaui'', * a species of scarab beetle, '' Hybosorus laportei'', * an

aphid Aphids are small sap-sucking insects in the Taxonomic rank, family Aphididae. Common names include greenfly and blackfly, although individuals within a species can vary widely in color. The group includes the fluffy white Eriosomatinae, woolly ...

'' Cinara laportei'', * the spotback skate, ''

Atlantoraja castelnaui The spotback skate (''Atlantoraja castelnaui'') is a species of fish in the family Arhynchobatidae. It is found off the Atlantic coasts of Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay where its natural habitat is over the continental shelf in the open sea. It ...

'' * the plant genus '' Laportea''.

Works

*''Histoire naturelle'', 1837. *''Expédition dans les parties centrales de l'Amérique: histoire naturelle des insectes coléoptères'', 1840. *with

Hippolyte Louis Gory Hippolyte Louis Gory (27 September 1800 – 26 April 1852) was a French entomologist. Life Hippolyte Louis Gory was born in Paris, 5th arrondissement the 27 (or the 28) September 1800 (the exact date is 5 vendémiaire an IX in the republican ca ...

, 1837–1841). *''Vues et souvenirs de l'Amérique du Nord'', 1842. *"Essai sur la Floride du Milieu", ''Nouvelles Annales des Voyages et des Sciences Géographiques'', IV, 1843. *, 1843.

Notes

References

External links

*
Francis de Castelnau's expedition

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laporte, Francois Louis French naturalists French taxonomists 1802 births 1880 deaths French entomologists Explorers of Amazonia 19th-century French zoologists 19th-century French diplomats