Philip Sclater
Encyclopedia
Philip Lutley Sclater was an English
lawyer
and zoologist. In zoology, he was an expert ornithologist, and identified the main zoogeographic regions of the world. He was Secretary of the Zoological Society of London
for 42 years, from 1860–1902.
, where his father William Lutley Sclater
had a country house. George Sclater-Booth, 1st Baron Basing
was Philip's elder brother. Philip grew up at Hoddington House where he took an early interest in birds. He was educated in school at Twyford and at thirteen went to Winchester College
and later Christ Church, Oxford
, where he studied scientific ornithology
under Hugh Edwin Strickland
.
In 1851 he began to study law and was admitted a Fellow of Corpus Christi College. In 1856 he travelled to America and visited Lake Superior and the upper St. Croix, canoeing down it to the Mississippi. Sclater wrote about this in "Illustrated travels". In Philadelphia he met Baird, John Cassin
and Joseph Leidy
at the Academy of Natural Sciences. After returning to England, he practised law for several years and attended meetings of the Zoological Society.
, Indian
, Australasian
, Nearctic
and Neotropical. These zoogeographic regions
are still in use. He also developed the theory of Lemuria
during 1864 to explain zoological coincidences relating Madagascar
to India
.
In 1874 he became private secretary to his brother George Sclater-Booth, MP (later Lord Basing). He was offered a permanent position in civil service but he declined. In 1875, he became President of the British Association for the Advancement of Science
, which he joined in 1847 as a member.
Sclater was the founder and editor of The Ibis
, the journal of the British Ornithologists' Union
. He was Secretary of the Zoological Society of London from 1860 to 1902. He was briefly succeeded by his son, before the Council of the Society made a long-term appointment.
In 1901 he described the okapi
to western scientists although he never saw one alive. His office at 11 Hanover Square became a meeting place for all naturalists in London. Travellers and residents shared notes with him and he corresponded with thousands.
His collection of birds grew to nine thousand and these he transferred to the British Museum in 1886. At around the same time the museum was augmented by the collections of Gould, Salvin and Godman, Hume, and others to become the largest in the world.
Among Sclater's more important books were Exotic Ornithology (1866–69) and Nomenclator Avium (1873), both with Osbert Salvin
; Argentine Ornithology (1888–89), with W.H. Hudson; and The Book of Antelopes (1894–1900) with Oldfield Thomas
.
On 16 October 1862 he married Jane Anne Eliza Hunter Blair; the couple had 1 daughter and 4 sons. Their eldest son, William Lutley Sclater
, was also an ornithologist. Their third son, Captain Guy Lutley Sclater, died in 1914 in the accidental explosion that sank HMS Bulwark
.
Although eclipsed by his contemporaries (like Charles Darwin
), Sclater may be considered as a precursor of biogeography
and even pattern cladistics
. For instance he writes in 1858 that "...little or no attention is given to the fact that two or more of these given geographical divisions may have much closer relations to each other than to any third ...".
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
and zoologist. In zoology, he was an expert ornithologist, and identified the main zoogeographic regions of the world. He was Secretary of the Zoological Society of London
Zoological Society of London
The Zoological Society of London is a charity devoted to the worldwide conservation of animals and their habitats...
for 42 years, from 1860–1902.
Early life
Sclater was born at Tangier Park, HampshireHampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
, where his father William Lutley Sclater
William Lutley Sclater
William Lutley Sclater was a British zoologist and museum director. He was the son of Philip Lutley Sclater, and was named after his paternal grandfather, also William Lutley Sclater....
had a country house. George Sclater-Booth, 1st Baron Basing
George Sclater-Booth, 1st Baron Basing
George Limbrey Sclater-Booth, 1st Baron Basing PC, FRS, DL , known as George Sclater-Booth before 1887, was a British Conservative politician...
was Philip's elder brother. Philip grew up at Hoddington House where he took an early interest in birds. He was educated in school at Twyford and at thirteen went to Winchester College
Winchester College
Winchester College is an independent school for boys in the British public school tradition, situated in Winchester, Hampshire, the former capital of England. It has existed in its present location for over 600 years and claims the longest unbroken history of any school in England...
and later Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church or house of Christ, and thus sometimes known as The House), is one of the largest constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England...
, where he studied scientific ornithology
Ornithology
Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and the aesthetic appeal of birds...
under Hugh Edwin Strickland
Hugh Edwin Strickland
Hugh Edwin Strickland , was an English geologist, ornithologist,naturalist, and systematist.Strickland was born at Reighton, in the East Riding of Yorkshire. He was the second son of Henry Eustatius Strickland of Apperley, Gloucestershire, by his wife Mary, daughter of Edmund Cartwright, D.D. [q...
.
In 1851 he began to study law and was admitted a Fellow of Corpus Christi College. In 1856 he travelled to America and visited Lake Superior and the upper St. Croix, canoeing down it to the Mississippi. Sclater wrote about this in "Illustrated travels". In Philadelphia he met Baird, John Cassin
John Cassin
John Cassin was an American ornithologist.He is considered to be one of the giants of American ornithology, and was America's first taxonomist, describing 198 birds not previously mentioned by Alexander Wilson and John James Audubon...
and Joseph Leidy
Joseph Leidy
Joseph Leidy was an American paleontologist.Leidy was professor of anatomy at the University of Pennsylvania, and later was a professor of natural history at Swarthmore College. His book Extinct Fauna of Dakota and Nebraska contained many species not previously described and many previously...
at the Academy of Natural Sciences. After returning to England, he practised law for several years and attended meetings of the Zoological Society.
Career
In 1858, Sclater published a paper in the Proceedings of the Linnean Society, setting up six zoological regions which he called the Palaearctic, AethiopianAfrotropic
The Afrotropic is one of the Earth's eight ecozones. It includes Africa south of the Sahara Desert, the southern and eastern fringes of the Arabian Peninsula, the island of Madagascar, southern Iran and extreme southwestern Pakistan, and the islands of the western Indian Ocean. It was formerly...
, Indian
Indomalaya
The Indomalaya ecozone is one of the eight ecozones that cover the planet's land surface. It extends across most of South and Southeast Asia and into the southern parts of East Asia....
, Australasian
Australasia ecozone
The Australasian zone is an ecological region that is coincident, but not synonymous , with the geographic region of Australasia...
, Nearctic
Nearctic
The Nearctic is one of the eight terrestrial ecozones dividing the Earth's land surface.The Nearctic ecozone covers most of North America, including Greenland and the highlands of Mexico...
and Neotropical. These zoogeographic regions
Ecozone
An ecozone is the broadest biogeographic division of the Earth's land surface, based on distributional patterns of terrestrial organisms.Ecozones delineate large areas of the Earth's surface within which organisms have been evolving in relative isolation over long periods of time, separated from...
are still in use. He also developed the theory of Lemuria
Lemuria (continent)
Lemuria is the name of a hypothetical "lost land" variously located in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The concept's 19th century origins lie in attempts to account for discontinuities in biogeography; however, the concept of Lemuria has been rendered obsolete by modern theories of plate tectonics...
during 1864 to explain zoological coincidences relating Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
to India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
.
In 1874 he became private secretary to his brother George Sclater-Booth, MP (later Lord Basing). He was offered a permanent position in civil service but he declined. In 1875, he became President of the British Association for the Advancement of Science
British Association for the Advancement of Science
frame|right|"The BA" logoThe British Association for the Advancement of Science or the British Science Association, formerly known as the BA, is a learned society with the object of promoting science, directing general attention to scientific matters, and facilitating interaction between...
, which he joined in 1847 as a member.
Sclater was the founder and editor of The Ibis
Ibis (journal)
Ibis, subtitled the International Journal of Avian Science, is the peer-reviewed scientific journal of the British Ornithologists' Union. Topics covered include ecology, conservation, behaviour, palaeontology, and taxonomy of birds. The editor-in-chief is Paul F. Donald. The journal is published by...
, the journal of the British Ornithologists' Union
British Ornithologists' Union
The British Ornithologists' Union aims to encourage the study of birds in Britain, Europe and elsewhere, in order to understand their biology and to aid their conservation....
. He was Secretary of the Zoological Society of London from 1860 to 1902. He was briefly succeeded by his son, before the Council of the Society made a long-term appointment.
In 1901 he described the okapi
Okapi
The okapi , Okapia johnstoni, is a giraffid artiodactyl mammal native to the Ituri Rainforest, located in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in Central Africa...
to western scientists although he never saw one alive. His office at 11 Hanover Square became a meeting place for all naturalists in London. Travellers and residents shared notes with him and he corresponded with thousands.
His collection of birds grew to nine thousand and these he transferred to the British Museum in 1886. At around the same time the museum was augmented by the collections of Gould, Salvin and Godman, Hume, and others to become the largest in the world.
Among Sclater's more important books were Exotic Ornithology (1866–69) and Nomenclator Avium (1873), both with Osbert Salvin
Osbert Salvin
Osbert Salvin FRS was an English naturalist, best known for co-authoring Biologia Centrali-Americana with Frederick DuCane Godman. This was a 52 volume encyclopedia on the natural history of Central America....
; Argentine Ornithology (1888–89), with W.H. Hudson; and The Book of Antelopes (1894–1900) with Oldfield Thomas
Oldfield Thomas
Oldfield Thomas FRS was a British zoologist.Thomas worked at the Natural History Museum on mammals, describing about 2,000 new species and sub-species for the first time. He was appointed to the Museum Secretary's office in 1876, transferring to the Zoological Department in 1878...
.
On 16 October 1862 he married Jane Anne Eliza Hunter Blair; the couple had 1 daughter and 4 sons. Their eldest son, William Lutley Sclater
William Lutley Sclater
William Lutley Sclater was a British zoologist and museum director. He was the son of Philip Lutley Sclater, and was named after his paternal grandfather, also William Lutley Sclater....
, was also an ornithologist. Their third son, Captain Guy Lutley Sclater, died in 1914 in the accidental explosion that sank HMS Bulwark
HMS Bulwark (1899)
HMS Bulwark belonged to a sub-class of the Formidable-class of pre-dreadnought battleships of the Royal Navy known as the London-class.-Technical description:...
.
Animals named after Sclater
- Sclater's Lemur (Eulemur flavifrons)
- Dusky-billed ParrotletDusky-billed ParrotletThe Dusky-billed Parrotlet , also known as the Sclater's Parrotlet, is a small species of parrot in the Psittacidae family. It is found in the Amazon Rainforest in South America, where it is locally fairly common; it is in the Andes, and the Amazonian foothills; also the Amazon River outlet, and...
(now changed from Forpus sclateri to Forpus modestus) - Sclater's MonalSclater's MonalSclater's Monal, Lophophorus sclateri, also known as the Crestless Monal, is a large, approximately long, pheasant of the east Himalayan region. As other monals, the male is a colorful bird...
(Lopophorus sclateri) - Erect-crested PenguinErect-crested PenguinThe Erect-crested Penguin is a penguin from New Zealand. It breeds on the Bounty and Antipodes Islands.This is a small-to-medium-sized, yellow-crested, black-and-white penguin, at and weighing . As in all penguin species, the male is slightly larger than the female and the birds weigh the most...
(Eudyptes sclateri) - Ecuadorian CaciqueEcuadorian CaciqueThe Ecuadorian Cacique is a species of bird in the Icteridae family.It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.-References:...
(Cacicus sclateri). - Mexican ChickadeeMexican ChickadeeThe Mexican Chickadee is a small songbird, a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. It is still often placed in the genus Parus with most other tits, but mtDNA cytochrome b sequence data and morphology suggest that separating Poecile more adequately expresses these birds' relationships...
(Poecile sclateri) - Bay-vented CotingaBay-vented CotingaThe Bay-vented Cotinga is a species of bird in the Cotingidae family.It is endemic to Peru.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland....
(Doliornis sclateri)
Although eclipsed by his contemporaries (like Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
), Sclater may be considered as a precursor of biogeography
Biogeography
Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species , organisms, and ecosystems in space and through geological time. Organisms and biological communities vary in a highly regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, isolation and habitat area...
and even pattern cladistics
Cladistics
Cladistics is a method of classifying species of organisms into groups called clades, which consist of an ancestor organism and all its descendants . For example, birds, dinosaurs, crocodiles, and all descendants of their most recent common ancestor form a clade...
. For instance he writes in 1858 that "...little or no attention is given to the fact that two or more of these given geographical divisions may have much closer relations to each other than to any third ...".