George Albert Boulenger
Encyclopedia
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
-British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
zoologist who identified over 2000 new animal species, chiefly fish, reptiles and amphibians.
Life
Boulenger was born in BrusselsBrussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, the only son of Gustave Boulenger, a Belgian public notary, and Juliette Piérart de Valenciennes. He graduated in 1876 from the Free University in Brussels with a degree in natural sciences and worked for a while at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences
Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences
The Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences is a museum in the Belgian capital of Brussels dedicated to natural history. Its most important pieces are 30 fossilized Iguanodon skeletons, which were discovered in 1878 in Bernissart. The dinosaur hall of the museum is the world's largest museum...
, Brussels as an assistant naturalist studying amphibians, reptile
Reptile
Reptiles are members of a class of air-breathing, ectothermic vertebrates which are characterized by laying shelled eggs , and having skin covered in scales and/or scutes. They are tetrapods, either having four limbs or being descended from four-limbed ancestors...
s, and fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
es. He also made frequent visits during this time to the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle
Muséum national d'histoire naturelle
The Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle is the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, France.- History :The museum was formally founded on 10 June 1793, during the French Revolution...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
In 1880, he was invited to work at the Natural History Museum
Natural History Museum
The Natural History Museum is one of three large museums on Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London, England . Its main frontage is on Cromwell Road...
, then a department of the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
, by Dr. Albert C. L. G. Günther
Albert C. L. G. Günther
Albert Karl Ludwig Gotthilf Günther FRS, also Albert Charles Lewis Gotthilf Günther , was a German-born British zoologist, ichthyologist, and herpetologist....
and assigned to the task of cataloguing the amphibians in the collection. His position in the British Museum meant that he had to be a civil servant of the British Empire, and so became a naturalized British subject. In 1882 he became a first-class assistant in the Department of Zoology and remained in that position until his retirement in 1920.
After his retirement from the British Museum, Boulenger studied rose
Rose
A rose is a woody perennial of the genus Rosa, within the family Rosaceae. There are over 100 species. They form a group of erect shrubs, and climbing or trailing plants, with stems that are often armed with sharp prickles. Flowers are large and showy, in colours ranging from white through yellows...
s and published 34 papers on botanical subjects and two volumes on the roses of Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. He died in Saint Malo, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
According to biographical accounts, he was incredibly methodical and had an amazing memory that enabled him to remember every specimen and scientific name he ever saw. He also had extraordinary powers of writing and seldom made a second draft of anything he wrote and his manuscripts showed but few corrections before going to the publisher.
Boulenger also played the violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
, could speak French, German and English apart from reading Spanish, Italian and a bit of Russian. As a zoologist, he also had a working knowledge of both Greek and Latin.
By 1921, Boulenger had published 875 papers totaling more than 5,000 pages, as well as 19 monographs on fishes, amphibians, and reptiles. The list of his publications and its index of species covers 77 printed pages.
He described 1,096 species of fish, 556 species of amphibians, and 872 species of reptiles. He was famous for his monographs on amphibians, lizard
Lizard
Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with nearly 3800 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica as well as most oceanic island chains...
s and other reptiles, and fishes for example his monographs on the fishes of Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
.
He was a member of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists and was elected its first honorary member in 1935. In 1937, Belgium conferred on him the Order of Léopold, the highest honor awarded to a civilian.
Work on cave dwelling fishes
In 1897 King Léopold II of BelgiumLeopold II of Belgium
Leopold II was the second king of the Belgians. Born in Brussels the second son of Leopold I and Louise-Marie of Orléans, he succeeded his father to the throne on 17 December 1865 and remained king until his death.Leopold is chiefly remembered as the founder and sole owner of the Congo Free...
started to recruit naturalists to help create the Congo museum. Boulenger was named chairman for this commission.
His main discovery in 1921 was a strange fish from Congo
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...
. It was eyeless and lacked pigmentation. He recognized it as new and unrelated to any extant epigean (eyed, surface) species of Africa. He wrote a brief paper describing this new species of cave fish, the first ever described from Africa. He called it Caecobarbus geertsi, from caeco = blind, barbus = barb, and geertsii, honoring a mysterious person, M. Geerts, who provided him with the specimen. Today it is known as the Congo or African blind barb. This was published in Nature
Nature (journal)
Nature, first published on 4 November 1869, is ranked the world's most cited interdisciplinary scientific journal by the Science Edition of the 2010 Journal Citation Reports...
.
Some species Boulenger described
Amphibians- Allobates femoralis 1884
- Allobates kingsburyi 1918 (Kingsbury's Rocket Frog)
- Allobates ranoides 1918 (Llanos Rocket Frog)
- Allobates trilineatus 1884 (Three-striped Rocket Frog)
- Ansonia muelleriAnsonia muelleriAnsonia muelleri is a species of toad in the Bufonidae family.It is endemic to the Philippines.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist montanes, rivers, intermittent rivers, and freshwater springs.It...
1887 (Muller's Toad) - Aromobates alboguttatus 1903 (Whitebelly Rocket Frog)
- Arthroleptis spinalisArthroleptis spinalisArthroleptis spinalis is a species of frog in the Arthroleptidae family.It is endemic to Democratic Republic of the Congo.-Source:* Drewes, R. 2004. . Downloaded on 20 July 2007....
1919 (Tanganyika Screeching Frog) - Arthroleptis taeniatusArthroleptis taeniatusArthroleptis taeniatus is a species of frog in the Arthroleptidae family.It is found in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, possibly Angola, and possibly Republic of the Congo....
1906 (Striped Screeching Frog) - Arthroleptis xenochirus 1905 (Marimba Screeching Frog)
- Arthroleptis xenodactylusArthroleptis xenodactylusArthroleptis xenodactylus is a species of frog in the Arthroleptidae family.It is endemic to Tanzania.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, and subtropical or tropical moist montanes....
1909 (Anani Screeching Frog) - Astylosternus batesiAstylosternus batesiAstylosternus batesi is a species of frog in the Astylosternidae family.It is found in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon....
1900 (Benito River Night Frog) - Atelopus elegans 1882
- Atelopus erythropusAtelopus erythropusAtelopus erythropus is a species of toad in the Bufonidae family.It is endemic to Peru.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and rivers.-Source:...
1903 - Atelopus oxyrhynchus 1903
- Atelopus pulcherAtelopus pulcherAtelopus pulcher is a species of toad in the Bufonidae family.It is endemic to Peru.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and rivers.It is threatened by habitat loss.-Source:...
1882 - Atelopus spurrelliAtelopus spurrelliAtelopus spurrelli is a species of toad in the Bufonidae family.It is endemic to Colombia.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and rivers.It is threatened by habitat loss.-References:...
1914 - Atelopus tricolor 1902 (Three-colored Harlequin Toad)
- Bombina maxima 1905 (Large-webbed Bell Toad)
- Bombina orientalisBombina orientalisThe Oriental Fire-bellied Toad, is a small semi-aquatic frog species found in Korea, north-eastern China and adjacent parts of Russia. An introduced population exists near Beijing. They are commonly kept as pets in land and water vivariums...
1890 (Oriental Fire-bellied Toad) - Breviceps macrops 1907 (Desert Rain Frog)
- Bufo blanfordii 1882 (Blanford's Toad)
- Bufo dodsoniBufo dodsoniBufo dodsoni is a species of toad in the Bufonidae family.It is found in Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, and Sudan.Its natural habitats are dry savanna, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, freshwater marshes, intermittent freshwater marches, inland karsts, caves, and hot deserts.It...
1895 (Dodson's Toad) - Bufo gracilipes 1899 (French Congo Toad)
- Bufo latifrons 1900
- Bufo lemairii 1901 (Lemaire's Toad)
- Bufo luetkenii 1891 (Yellow Toad)
- Bufo microtympanum 1882 (Southern Hill Toad)
- Bufo parietalisBufo parietalisThe Ridged Toad, Bufo parietalis is a species of toad found in the Western Ghats of India.-Description:Head with very prominent ridges, namely a canthal, a slight preorbital, a supraorbital, a postorbital, a parietal, and an orbitotympanic; parietal ridges obliquely directed inwards; snout short,...
1882 (Indian Toad) - Bufo superciliaris 1888 (Cameroon Toad)
- Bufo vittatus 1906 (Banded Toad)
- Cardioglossa elegansCardioglossa elegansCardioglossa elegans is a species of frog in the Arthroleptidae family.It is found in Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, rivers, and heavily degraded former forest....
1906 (Elegant Long-fingered Frog) - Cardioglossa escaleraeCardioglossa escaleraeCardioglossa escalerae is a species of frog in the Arthroleptidae family.It is found in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, possibly Republic of the Congo, and possibly Gabon....
1903 (Equatorial Guinea Long-fingered Frog) - Cardioglossa gracilisCardioglossa gracilisCardioglossa gracilis is a species of frog in the Arthroleptidae family.It is found in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Nigeria, and possibly Republic of the Congo....
1900 (Rio Benito Long-fingered Frog) - Cardioglossa leucomystaxCardioglossa leucomystaxCardioglossa leucomystax is a species of frog in the Arthroleptidae family.It is found in Cameroon, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, and possibly Angola....
1903 (Silver Long-fingered Frog) - Ischnocnema ramagii 1888 (Paraiba Robber Frog)
- Leptodactylodon albiventrisLeptodactylodon albiventrisLeptodactylodon albiventris is a species of frog in the Astylosternidae family.It is endemic to Cameroon.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist montanes, rivers, and rocky areas....
1905 (Whitebelly Egg Frog) - Leptodactylodon ventrimarmoratusLeptodactylodon ventrimarmoratusLeptodactylodon ventrimarmoratus is a species of frog in the Astylosternidae family.It is endemic to Cameroon.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist montanes, rivers, freshwater springs, and rocky areas.It is threatened by habitat...
1904 (Speckled Egg Frog) - Leptopelis brevipesLeptopelis brevipesLeptopelis brevipes is a species of frog in the Hyperoliidae family.It is endemic to Equatorial Guinea.Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.-Source:...
1906 (Musole Forest Treefrog) - Leptopelis calcaratusLeptopelis calcaratusLeptopelis calcaratus is a species of frog in the Hyperoliidae family.It is found in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Nigeria, possibly Republic of the Congo, and possibly Uganda....
1906 (Efulen Forest Treefrog) - Leptopelis christyiLeptopelis christyiLeptopelis christyi is a species of frog in the Hyperoliidae family.It is found in Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Tanzania, Uganda, possibly Burundi, possibly Central African Republic, possibly Republic of the Congo, possibly Kenya, possibly Rwanda, and possibly Sudan.Its...
1912 (Christy's Forest Treefrog) - Leptopelis gramineusLeptopelis gramineusLeptopelis gramineus is a species of frog in the Hyperoliidae family.It is endemic to Ethiopia.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist montanes, subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland, subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland,...
1898 (Badditu Forest Treefrog) - Leptopelis millsoniLeptopelis millsoniLeptopelis millsoni is a species of frog in the Hyperoliidae family.It is found in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and Nigeria....
1895 (Niger Forest Treefrog) - Leptopelis ragazziiLeptopelis ragazziiLeptopelis ragazzii is a species of frog in the Hyperoliidae family.It is endemic to Ethiopia.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes, rivers, intermittent rivers, freshwater marshes, and intermittent freshwater marches....
1896 (Shoa Forest Treefrog) - Leptopelis vannutelliiLeptopelis vannutelliiLeptopelis vannutellii is a species of frog in the Hyperoliidae family.It is endemic to Ethiopia.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes, rivers, intermittent rivers, freshwater marshes, and intermittent freshwater marches....
1898 (Dime Forest Treefrog) - Leptopelis vermiculatus 1909 (Anani Forest Treefrog)
- Mannophryne collaris 1912 (Collared Poison Frog)
- Nyctibates corrugatusNyctibates corrugatusNyctibates corrugatus is a species of frog in the Arthroleptidae family. It is monotypic within the genus Nyctibates.It is found in Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, and Nigeria....
1904 (Southern Night Frog) - Scotobleps gabonicusScotobleps gabonicusScotobleps gabonicus is a species of frog in the Arthroleptidae family. It is monotypic within the genus Scotobleps.It is found in Cameroon, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Nigeria, and possibly Angola.Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical...
1900 (Gaboon Forest Frog) - Trichobatrachus robustus 1900 (Hairy Frog)
Fishes
- Toxotes blythiiToxotes blythiiToxotes blythii is a perciform fish of genus Toxotes. It is amphidromous and found in Myanmar. T. blythii is not of interest in fisheries. This species was formerly thought to be identical to T. microlepis . However, differences in structure and colouration caused the splitting of T. blythii into...
1892 (Archer Fish)
Reptiles
- Cuora yunnanensisCuora yunnanensisThe Yunnan Box Turtle is a species of turtle in the family Geoemydidae . It is believed to be endemic to China and was suspected to be extinct since the early 20th century; the last verified specimen was collected in 1940 The Yunnan Box Turtle (Cuora yunnanensis) is a species of turtle in the...
1906 (Yunnan Box Turtle) - Homopus femoralis 1888 (Karroo Tortoise)
- Indotestudo travancoricaIndotestudo travancoricaThe Travancore tortoise is a large forest tortoise growing up to in length. It primarily feeds on grasses and herbs. It also feeds on molluscs, insects, animal carcass, fungi and fruits. It occurs in hill forests at 450–850 m elevation. Males combat by ramming their shell during their breeding...
1907 (Travancore Tortoise) - Lamprophis fiskii 1887 (Fisk's House Snake)
- Lamprophis fuscus 1893 (Yellow-Bellied House Snake)
- Psammobates tentorius trimeni 1886
- Terrapene carolina yucatanaTerrapene carolina yucatanaThe Yucatán box turtle is a subspecies of box turtle endemic to Mexico, in the state of Yucatán.-Description:...
1895 (Yucatán Box Turtle)