Robert Templeton
Encyclopedia
Robert Templeton was a Naturalist
, artist
, and entomologist, and was born at Cranmore House, Belfast
, Ireland
.
, and was educated in Belfast Academical Institution
, which was in part his father's creation. In 1821 he left Ireland for Edinburgh
, Scotland
to study medicine
and following graduation practised in the University hospital.In the same year he became a Member of the Belfast Natural History Society
. In 1833 (6 May) he was commissioned as Assistant Surgeon
in the Royal Artillery
, initially stationed at the Royal Artillery
Barracks, Woolwich
, close to London
, England.
In 1834, Templeton was stationed to Mauritius
and in 1835 to Rio de Janeiro
and Recife
. From Rio (1835) he took ship to Colombo
, Ceylon, via the Cape of Good Hope
and in this year became a Corresponding Member of the Zoological Society of London
. A brief sojourn in Ceylon was followed by a stay in Malta
(1836). Later in 1836 he moved on to Corfu
and Albania
. In all these places Templeton collected insects and other invertebrates and in 1839 he became a Corresponding Member of the Entomological Society of London.
A twelve year stay in Ceylon (1839–1851) followed, and in 1847 Templeton was promoted from Assistant Surgeon to Surgeon.In these years at various times he visited Southern India - Madras, Tamil Nadu
, Andhra Pradesh
, Kerala
, Karnataka
- and twice Northern India Uttarakhand
and Kashmir
. Recalled from Ceylon in 1852 due to the unrest in Europe
which was to erupt in the bloody and terrible Crimean War
, he served in the Crimea
from March 1854–1856 and was promoted to Surgeon-Major on 7 December 1855. He retired with the honorary rank of Deputy Inspector General of Hospitals on 31 January 1860.
and his first published entomological paper concerns these insects. Thysanurae hibernicae (Irish bristle tails and spring-tails) was published in the first volume of the Transactions of the Entomological Society of London for 1836 and is the first significant work in English on these primitive insects, remaining so until 1875. In this short work prefaced by John Obadiah Westwood
Templeton described two new genera
and twelve new species
accompanied by two plates showing whole animals and details of structure. Forty years later the entomologist Lubbock paid tribute to Templeton's early work by naming a thysanuran genus after him — Templetonia.
who incorporated the notes and drawings into his own work. Oddly, although he collected my old pets the spiders, he published very little on them.
In Ceylon Templeton worked mainly on Lepidoptera
, Coleoptera and Hymenoptera
alongside Edgar Leopold Layard
(1824–1900). New species of Lepidoptera
collected by Templeton and Layard were described by Frederic Moore
, Francis Walker
and George Robert Gray
. The new Coleoptera were described by Joseph Sugar Baly
, Francis Walker
, John Obadiah Westwood
, Carl August Dohrn
and Francis Polkinghorne Pascoe
. Templeton's publications on Lepidoptera amount to some general comments on papilionid butterflies and two species descriptions — Oiketicus terlius and Oiketicus (Cryptothelia) consortus. The bulk of the new beetle
s, some of the Hymenoptera
(the rest were described by Frederick Smith
) and other insects in Templeton's collection were described by Francis Walker who also compiled the first list of the insects of Ceylon for Tennent
's book Ceylon, Physical, Historical and Topographical
based on the collections of Templeton, Layard, the British Museum and the Museum of the East India Company
; there are 2,000 species and Layard and Templeton captured between them 932 species of butterflies and moth
s in Ceylon many, new to science. Templeton supplied many of the insects incorporated in Westwood's book Oriental Cabinet, one of which, the beetle Compsosternus templetonii bears his name. Unfortunately only the published part of Templeton's correspondence with Westwood (the Secretary of the Entomological Society) survived, the manuscript
s are apparently lost. Templeton's Ceylon insect collection was apparently divided between the Belfast Museum (now in the National Museum of Ireland
), the Entomological Society of London and the British Museum
(the Entomological Society's collections are now incorporated in those of the latter institution). Templeton's watercolour paintings of Ceylon butterflies are in the Ulster Museum
, Belfast. Templeton, Layard and George Henry Kendrick Thwaites
and later John Nietner
(died 1874) contributed almost all that was known of the insect fauna of the island at the end of the first half of the nineteenth century including a privately printed list of Thysanura
, Myriapoda
, Scorpion
idea, Cheliferidae and Phrynidae (now Amblypygi
) from Ceylon which is not traced, and remarked on the habits of the large poisonous centipedes Scolopendra pallipes and S. crassa in two (published) communications to Westwood. Many of his manuscripts were lost when the clipper Memnon
sank in 1851.
collection was described as comprising several new and rare species hitherto undescribed. Amongst others are new species of each of these genera: Achatina
, Helix
, Neritina
, Ampullaria, Valvata
, Planorbis
and Melania. Robert Templeton sent back to the Belfast Museum specimens of the Ceylonese
Pearl Mussel
showing growth stages of the mussels from the famous pearl fisheries of Ceylon. He also described two species of land-slug (Vaginula maculata and Parfnacella tennenti) from Ceylon. It was Templeton who described the extraordinary Giant Earthworm Megascole caeruleus from Ceylon which is between 20 and 40 inches long and has a thickness of nearly an inch or more.
Templeton also studied the vertebrate
s of the island, especially the fish
, birds and monkeys. Amongst the birds were five endemic species new to science. These were described by Edward Blyth
in the Calcutta Journal as Athene castanotus
, the chestnut-winged hawk owl; Malacocercus rufescens
, the red dung thrush; Dicrurus edoliformis
, the kingcrow, Dicrurus leucopyygialis the Ceylon kingcrow, and Eulabes ptilogenes
, Templeton's mynah. The monkeys were studiously appraised and some of the results communicated to the Zoological Society of London. These communications, one of the monkey Cercopithecus pileatus and the loris Loris gracilis and the other on a supposed new species Semnopithecus leucoprymnus cephalopterus which turned out to be identical with Bennet's Semnopithecus nestor
, are Templetons only personal contribution to the literature on the vertebrates of Ceylon. His knowledge of the smaller mammals, birds, reptiles and fishes was instead incorporated in the work of others, notably George Robert Waterhouse
and his coworker Edgar Leopold Layard
who in the introduction to Notes on the ornithology of Ceylon says I have had the advantage of consulting with Mr. Blyth and Drs. Templeton and Kelaart with each of whom i have been on terms of the closest intimacy and we mutually communicated our discoveries
Natural history
Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...
, artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
, and entomologist, and was born at Cranmore House, Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
.
Life and work
Robert Templeton was the son of John TempletonJohn Templeton (botanist)
John Templeton was an early Irish naturalist and botanist. He is often referred to as the "Father of Irish Botany". He was the father of naturalist, artist and entomologist Robert Templeton.-Biography:...
, and was educated in Belfast Academical Institution
Royal Belfast Academical Institution
The Royal Belfast Academical Institution, is a Grammar School in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Locally referred to as Inst, the school educates boys from ages 11–18...
, which was in part his father's creation. In 1821 he left Ireland for Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
to study medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
and following graduation practised in the University hospital.In the same year he became a Member of the Belfast Natural History Society
Belfast Natural History Society
The Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society was founded in 1821 to promote the scientific study of animals, plants, fossils, rocks and minerals....
. In 1833 (6 May) he was commissioned as Assistant Surgeon
Surgery
Surgery is an ancient medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, or to help improve bodily function or appearance.An act of performing surgery may be called a surgical...
in the Royal Artillery
Royal Artillery
The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery , is the artillery arm of the British Army. Despite its name, it comprises a number of regiments.-History:...
, initially stationed at the Royal Artillery
Royal Artillery
The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery , is the artillery arm of the British Army. Despite its name, it comprises a number of regiments.-History:...
Barracks, Woolwich
Woolwich
Woolwich is a district in south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.Woolwich formed part of Kent until 1889 when the County of London was created...
, close to 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...
, England.
Mauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
and in 1835 to Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
and Recife
Recife
Recife is the fifth-largest metropolitan area in Brazil with 4,136,506 inhabitants, the largest metropolitan area of the North/Northeast Regions, the 5th-largest metropolitan influence area in Brazil, and the capital and largest city of the state of Pernambuco. The population of the city proper...
. From Rio (1835) he took ship to Colombo
Colombo
Colombo is the largest city of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, the capital of Sri Lanka. Colombo is often referred to as the capital of the country, since Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is a satellite city of Colombo...
, Ceylon, via the Cape of Good Hope
Cape of Good Hope
The Cape of Good Hope is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula, South Africa.There is a misconception that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa, because it was once believed to be the dividing point between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. In fact, the...
and in this year became a Corresponding Member 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...
. A brief sojourn in Ceylon was followed by a stay in Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
(1836). Later in 1836 he moved on to Corfu
Corfu
Corfu is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the second largest of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the edge of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The island is part of the Corfu regional unit, and is administered as a single municipality. The...
and Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
. In all these places Templeton collected insects and other invertebrates and in 1839 he became a Corresponding Member of the Entomological Society of London.
A twelve year stay in Ceylon (1839–1851) followed, and in 1847 Templeton was promoted from Assistant Surgeon to Surgeon.In these years at various times he visited Southern India - Madras, Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
, Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh , is one of the 28 states of India, situated on the southeastern coast of India. It is India's fourth largest state by area and fifth largest by population. Its capital and largest city by population is Hyderabad.The total GDP of Andhra Pradesh is $100 billion and is ranked third...
, Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
, Karnataka
Karnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
- and twice Northern India Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand , formerly Uttaranchal, is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the Land of Gods due to the many holy Hindu temples and cities found throughout the state, some of which are among Hinduism's most spiritual and auspicious places of pilgrimage and worship...
and Kashmir
Kashmir
Kashmir is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range...
. Recalled from Ceylon in 1852 due to the unrest in 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...
which was to erupt in the bloody and terrible Crimean War
Crimean War
The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
, he served in the Crimea
Crimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
from March 1854–1856 and was promoted to Surgeon-Major on 7 December 1855. He retired with the honorary rank of Deputy Inspector General of Hospitals on 31 January 1860.
Work on Thysanura
Templeton was particularly interested in the ThysanuraThysanura
Thysanura is an order of insects, encompassing silverfish and firebrats, known for their three long caudal filaments.The families Machilidae and Meinertellidae of the jumping bristletails were once included with Thysanura....
and his first published entomological paper concerns these insects. Thysanurae hibernicae (Irish bristle tails and spring-tails) was published in the first volume of the Transactions of the Entomological Society of London for 1836 and is the first significant work in English on these primitive insects, remaining so until 1875. In this short work prefaced by John Obadiah Westwood
John Obadiah Westwood
John Obadiah Westwood was an English entomologist and archaeologist also noted for his artistic talents.Born in Sheffield, he studied to be a lawyer but abandoned that for his scientific interests....
Templeton described two new genera
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
and twelve new species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
accompanied by two plates showing whole animals and details of structure. Forty years later the entomologist Lubbock paid tribute to Templeton's early work by naming a thysanuran genus after him — Templetonia.
Work on spiders
Much of Templeton's early work and very much in Ceylon was on spiders. Studies of Irish spiders were passed to John BlackwallJohn Blackwall
John Blackwall was a British naturalist.Blackwall lived at Hendre House near Llanrwst in north Wales from 1833 until his death...
who incorporated the notes and drawings into his own work. Oddly, although he collected my old pets the spiders, he published very little on them.
Work on Sri Lankan arthropods
Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera is a large order of insects that includes moths and butterflies . It is one of the most widespread and widely recognizable insect orders in the world, encompassing moths and the three superfamilies of butterflies, skipper butterflies, and moth-butterflies...
, Coleoptera and Hymenoptera
Hymenoptera
Hymenoptera is one of the largest orders of insects, comprising the sawflies, wasps, bees and ants. There are over 130,000 recognized species, with many more remaining to be described. The name refers to the heavy wings of the insects, and is derived from the Ancient Greek ὑμήν : membrane and...
alongside Edgar Leopold Layard
Edgar Leopold Layard
Edgar Leopold Layard CMG, FZS, MBOU was a British naturalist mainly interested in ornithology. Born in Florence, Italy, to a family of Huguenot descent, he was the sixth son of Henry Peter John Layard of the Ceylon Civil Service with his wife Marianne,...
(1824–1900). New species of Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera is a large order of insects that includes moths and butterflies . It is one of the most widespread and widely recognizable insect orders in the world, encompassing moths and the three superfamilies of butterflies, skipper butterflies, and moth-butterflies...
collected by Templeton and Layard were described by Frederic Moore
Frederic Moore
Frederic Moore FZS was a British entomologist. It has been said that Moore was born at 33 Bruton Street but may be incorrect given that this was the address of the menagerie and office of the Zoological Society of London from 1826 to 1836.Moore was appointed an assistant in the East India Company...
, Francis Walker
Francis Walker (entomologist)
Francis Walker was an English entomologist. He was one of the most prolific authors in entomology, and stirred controversy during his later life as his publications resulted in a huge number of junior synonyms....
and George Robert Gray
George Robert Gray
George Robert Gray FRS was an English zoologist and author, and head of the ornithological section of the British Museum, now the Natural History Museum, in London for forty-one years...
. The new Coleoptera were described by Joseph Sugar Baly
Joseph Sugar Baly
Joseph Sugar Baly was an English doctor and entomologist.Born in Warwick where he would also die, Baly was a specialist in Coleoptera: Phytophaga. His collection is in the Natural History Museum, London.-Works:...
, Francis Walker
Francis Walker (entomologist)
Francis Walker was an English entomologist. He was one of the most prolific authors in entomology, and stirred controversy during his later life as his publications resulted in a huge number of junior synonyms....
, John Obadiah Westwood
John Obadiah Westwood
John Obadiah Westwood was an English entomologist and archaeologist also noted for his artistic talents.Born in Sheffield, he studied to be a lawyer but abandoned that for his scientific interests....
, Carl August Dohrn
Carl August Dohrn
Carl August Dohrn was a German entomologist.-Biography:Born at Stettin Carl August was the son of Heinrich Dohrn, who was a wine and spice merchant, and had made the family fortune by trading in sugar...
and Francis Polkinghorne Pascoe
Francis Polkinghorne Pascoe
Francis Polkinghorne Pascoe was a Cornish entomologist mainly interested in Coleoptera.-Biography:He was born in Penzance Cornwall and trained at St. Bartholomew's Hospital. Appointed surgeon in the Navy he served on Australian, West Indian and Mediterranean stations...
. Templeton's publications on Lepidoptera amount to some general comments on papilionid butterflies and two species descriptions — Oiketicus terlius and Oiketicus (Cryptothelia) consortus. The bulk of the new beetle
Beetle
Coleoptera is an order of insects commonly called beetles. The word "coleoptera" is from the Greek , koleos, "sheath"; and , pteron, "wing", thus "sheathed wing". Coleoptera contains more species than any other order, constituting almost 25% of all known life-forms...
s, some of the Hymenoptera
Hymenoptera
Hymenoptera is one of the largest orders of insects, comprising the sawflies, wasps, bees and ants. There are over 130,000 recognized species, with many more remaining to be described. The name refers to the heavy wings of the insects, and is derived from the Ancient Greek ὑμήν : membrane and...
(the rest were described by Frederick Smith
Frederick Smith (entomologist)
Frederick Smith was a British entomologist.Smith worked in the zoology department of the British Museum from 1849, specialising in the Hymenoptera. In 1875 he was promoted to Assistant Keeper of Zoology...
) and other insects in Templeton's collection were described by Francis Walker who also compiled the first list of the insects of Ceylon for Tennent
James Emerson Tennent
Sir James Emerson Tennent, 1st Baronet FRS , born James Emerson, was an Irish politician and traveller. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society on 5 June 1862....
's book Ceylon, Physical, Historical and Topographical
Ceylon, Physical, Historical and Topographical
Ceylon. An Account of the Island, Physical, Historical, and Topographical with Notices of its Natural History, Antiquities and Productions is a two-volume book by James Emerson Tennent....
based on the collections of Templeton, Layard, the British Museum and the Museum of the East India Company
British East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
; there are 2,000 species and Layard and Templeton captured between them 932 species of butterflies and moth
Moth
A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths form the majority of this order; there are thought to be 150,000 to 250,000 different species of moth , with thousands of species yet to be described...
s in Ceylon many, new to science. Templeton supplied many of the insects incorporated in Westwood's book Oriental Cabinet, one of which, the beetle Compsosternus templetonii bears his name. Unfortunately only the published part of Templeton's correspondence with Westwood (the Secretary of the Entomological Society) survived, the manuscript
Manuscript
A manuscript or handwrite is written information that has been manually created by someone or some people, such as a hand-written letter, as opposed to being printed or reproduced some other way...
s are apparently lost. Templeton's Ceylon insect collection was apparently divided between the Belfast Museum (now in the National Museum of Ireland
National Museum of Ireland
The National Museum of Ireland is the national museum in Ireland. It has three branches in Dublin and one in County Mayo, with a strong emphasis on Irish art, culture and natural history.-Archaeology:...
), the Entomological Society of London and the British 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...
(the Entomological Society's collections are now incorporated in those of the latter institution). Templeton's watercolour paintings of Ceylon butterflies are in the Ulster Museum
Ulster Museum
The Ulster Museum, located in the Botanic Gardens in Belfast, has around 8,000 square metres of public display space, featuring material from the collections of fine art and applied art, archaeology, ethnography, treasures from the Spanish Armada, local history, numismatics, industrial...
, Belfast. Templeton, Layard and George Henry Kendrick Thwaites
George Henry Kendrick Thwaites
George Henry Kendrick Thwaites was an English botanist and entomologist.Thwaites was initially an accountant and studied botany during his spare time. He was interested particularly in the lower plants such as the algae and the cryptogams...
and later John Nietner
John Nietner
John Nietner was a German naturalist chiefly interested in botany and entomology. He was a plantation owner in Ceylon and described many new insect species from the island.-Works:...
(died 1874) contributed almost all that was known of the insect fauna of the island at the end of the first half of the nineteenth century including a privately printed list of Thysanura
Thysanura
Thysanura is an order of insects, encompassing silverfish and firebrats, known for their three long caudal filaments.The families Machilidae and Meinertellidae of the jumping bristletails were once included with Thysanura....
, Myriapoda
Myriapoda
Myriapoda is a subphylum of arthropods containing millipedes, centipedes, and others. The group contains 13,000 species, all of which are terrestrial...
, Scorpion
Scorpion
Scorpions are predatory arthropod animals of the order Scorpiones within the class Arachnida. They have eight legs and are easily recognized by the pair of grasping claws and the narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back, ending with a venomous stinger...
idea, Cheliferidae and Phrynidae (now Amblypygi
Amblypygid
Amblypygi is an order of invertebrate animals belonging to the class Arachnida, in the subphylum Chelicerata of the phylum Arthropoda. They form a separate order of arachnids alongside the spiders, scorpions and others....
) from Ceylon which is not traced, and remarked on the habits of the large poisonous centipedes Scolopendra pallipes and S. crassa in two (published) communications to Westwood. Many of his manuscripts were lost when the clipper Memnon
Memnon (clipper)
The Memnon was the first clipper ship to arrive in San Francisco after the Gold Rush, and the only clipper to arrive in San Francisco before 1850...
sank in 1851.
Work on Mollusca and Annelida
Part of Templeton's MolluscaMollusca
The Mollusca , common name molluscs or mollusksSpelled mollusks in the USA, see reasons given in Rosenberg's ; for the spelling mollusc see the reasons given by , is a large phylum of invertebrate animals. There are around 85,000 recognized extant species of molluscs. Mollusca is the largest...
collection was described as comprising several new and rare species hitherto undescribed. Amongst others are new species of each of these genera: Achatina
Achatina
Achatina is a genus of medium-sized to very large, air-breathing, tropical land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Achatinidae.-Distribution:There are some 200 species of Achatinidae in Sub-Saharan Africa...
, Helix
Helix
A helix is a type of smooth space curve, i.e. a curve in three-dimensional space. It has the property that the tangent line at any point makes a constant angle with a fixed line called the axis. Examples of helixes are coil springs and the handrails of spiral staircases. A "filled-in" helix – for...
, Neritina
Neritina
Neritina is a genus of small aquatic snails with an operculum, marine, brackish water, and sometimes freshwater gastropod mollusks in the family Neritidae, the nerites.Neritina is the type genus of the tribe Neritinini.- Species :...
, Ampullaria, Valvata
Valvata
Valvata is a genus of very small freshwater snails with an operculum, aquatic gastropod mollusks in the family Valvatidae, the valve snails.-Species:The type species for this genus is Valvata cristata O.F. Müller, 1774....
, Planorbis
Planorbis
Planorbis is a genus of freshwater air-breathing snails, aquatic pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Planorbidae, the ram's horn snails, or planorbids. All species in this genus have sinistral or left-coiling shells.- Description :...
and Melania. Robert Templeton sent back to the Belfast Museum specimens of the Ceylonese
Pearl Mussel
Pinctada radiata
Pinctada radiata, commonly known as the Atlantic pearl-oyster or the Gulf pearl oyster is a species of pearl oyster distributed throughout the Indo-Pacific. Its range extends as far north as Japan and as far south as the Australian state of Victoria.P. radiata is generally between in length,...
showing growth stages of the mussels from the famous pearl fisheries of Ceylon. He also described two species of land-slug (Vaginula maculata and Parfnacella tennenti) from Ceylon. It was Templeton who described the extraordinary Giant Earthworm Megascole caeruleus from Ceylon which is between 20 and 40 inches long and has a thickness of nearly an inch or more.
Work on birds and mammals
Vertebrate
Vertebrates are animals that are members of the subphylum Vertebrata . Vertebrates are the largest group of chordates, with currently about 58,000 species described. Vertebrates include the jawless fishes, bony fishes, sharks and rays, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and birds...
s of the island, especially the 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...
, birds and monkeys. Amongst the birds were five endemic species new to science. These were described by Edward Blyth
Edward Blyth
Edward Blyth was an English zoologist and pharmacist. He was one of the founders of zoology in India....
in the Calcutta Journal as Athene castanotus
Chestnut-backed Owlet
The Chestnut-backed Owlet, Glaucidium castanonotum, is an owl which is endemic to Sri Lanka. This species is a part of the larger grouping of owls known as typical owls, Strigidae, which contains most species of owl. The other grouping is the barn owls, Tytonidae.-Identification or Description:The...
, the chestnut-winged hawk owl; Malacocercus rufescens
Orange-billed Babbler
The Orange-billed Babbler, Turdoides rufescens, also known as Ceylon Rufous Babbler or Sri Lankan Rufous Babbler is an Old World babbler. The Old World babblers are a large family of Old World passerine birds characterised by soft fluffy plumage...
, the red dung thrush; Dicrurus edoliformis
Black Drongo
The Black Drongo , also known as the King Crow, is a small Asian passerine bird of the drongo family Dicruridae. Previously considered a subspecies of the African Fork-tailed Drongo , it is now recognized as a full species...
, the kingcrow, Dicrurus leucopyygialis the Ceylon kingcrow, and Eulabes ptilogenes
Sri Lanka Myna
The Sri Lanka Myna, Ceylon Myna or Sri Lanka Hill Myna , is a myna, a member of the starling family. This bird is endemic to Sri Lanka....
, Templeton's mynah. The monkeys were studiously appraised and some of the results communicated to the Zoological Society of London. These communications, one of the monkey Cercopithecus pileatus and the loris Loris gracilis and the other on a supposed new species Semnopithecus leucoprymnus cephalopterus which turned out to be identical with Bennet's Semnopithecus nestor
Purple-faced Langur
The purple-faced langur , or purple-faced leaf monkey, is a species of Old World monkey endemic to Sri Lanka.This is a long-tailed arboreal species, mainly brown with a dark facemask and paler lower face...
, are Templetons only personal contribution to the literature on the vertebrates of Ceylon. His knowledge of the smaller mammals, birds, reptiles and fishes was instead incorporated in the work of others, notably George Robert Waterhouse
George Robert Waterhouse
George Robert Waterhouse was an English naturalist.In 1833, Waterhouse was elected as the Royal Entomological Society of London's librarian and curator of insects and records....
and his coworker Edgar Leopold Layard
Edgar Leopold Layard
Edgar Leopold Layard CMG, FZS, MBOU was a British naturalist mainly interested in ornithology. Born in Florence, Italy, to a family of Huguenot descent, he was the sixth son of Henry Peter John Layard of the Ceylon Civil Service with his wife Marianne,...
who in the introduction to Notes on the ornithology of Ceylon says I have had the advantage of consulting with Mr. Blyth and Drs. Templeton and Kelaart with each of whom i have been on terms of the closest intimacy and we mutually communicated our discoveries
Insects named for Templeton
- Campsosternus templetoni Westwood, 1848 (Oxynopterinae, Elateridae )
- Chrysomela templetoni Baly, 1860 (Chrysomelinae, Chrysomelidae )
- Sebasmia templetoni Pascoe, 1859 (Cerambycinae, Cerambycidae )
- Pseudanophthalmus templetoni Valentine
Works
- 1833 Figures and descriptions of Irish Arachnida and Acari . Unpublished Ms. Hope Department of Entomology Library. University of Oxford.
- 1833a. On the spiders of the genus Dysdera Latr. with the descriptions of a new allied genus. Zoological JournalThe Zoological JournalThe Zoological Journal was an early nineteenth century quarterly publication devoted to Zoology.It consists of "Original Communications, Translations of new and interesting Papers from Foreign sources and notices of new and remarkable facts in any way connected with Zoology" Gentlemen’s Magazine...
5: 400 -406, pl. 17.http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/88258#page/414/mode/1up - 1834. (as C. M. ) An illustration of the structure of some of the organs of a spider, deemed the type of a new genus and proposal to be called Trichopus libratus. Magazine of Natural HistoryJournal of Natural HistoryThe Journal of Natural History is a scientific journal published by Taylor & Francis focusing on entomology and zoology. The journal was established in 1841 under the name Annals and Magazine of Natural History and obtained its current title in 1967...
7: 10 13.http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/19625#page/24/mode/1up - 1834a. (as C. M. ) Illustrations of some species of British animals which are not generallv known or have hitherto not been described. Mag. Nat. Hist. 3: 129-131.http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/19625#page/3/mode/1up 1834a
- 1838. Descriptions of a few vertebrate animals obtained at the Isle of France Proc. Zool. Soc.Lond. 2: 111-112 http://biodiversitylibrary.org/item/46213#page/447/mode/1up
- 1836. Catalogue of Irish Crustaca, Myriapoda and Arachnoida, selected from the papers of the late John Templeton Esq. Mag. Nat. Hist. . 9: 9-14 http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/19501#page/29/mode/1up
- 1836a. A catalogue of the species annulose animals and of rayed ones found in Ireland as selected from the papers of the late J Templeton Esq. of Cranmore with localities, descriptions and illustrations. Mag. Nat. Hist. . 9: 233- 240; 301 305; 417-421; 466 -472.http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/19501#page/11/mode/1up
- 1836b. Thysanurae Hibernicae or descriptions of such species of spring-tailed insects (Podura and Lepisma Linn. ) as have been observed in Ireland. Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond. 1: 89-98, pls. 11, 12. http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/48195
- 1836c. Descriptions of some undescribed exotic Crustacea. Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond. 1: 185 198, pls. 20, 21, 22. http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/48195
- 1836d. Description of a new hemipterous insect from the Atlantic Ocean. Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond. . 1: 230-232, pl. 22.http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/48195
- 1837. Irish vertebrate animals selected from the papers of the late . John Templeton Esq. ,Mag. Nat. Hist . 1: (n. s. ): 403-413 403 -413.http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/19588#page/421/mode/1up
- 1837a. Description of a new Irish crustaceous animal. Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond. 2: 34-40, pl. 5. .http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/44572
- 1838a. Description of a new Irish crustaceous animal. Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond. Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond. 2: 114 120, pl. 12.http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/44572
- 1840. Description of a minute crustaceous animal from the island of Mauritius. Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond. 2: 203 206, pl. 18.http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/44572
- 1841. Description of a new strepsipterous insect. Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond. 3: 51-56, pl. 4. http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/48701
- 1841a. Positions in Ceylon. Geogr. Soc. Journ. 1841 10: 579-580.
- 1843. Memoir on the genus Cermatia and some other exotic Annulosa. Trans. Ent Soc. Lond 3: 302- 309, pls. 16, 17. http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/48701
- 1844. Description of Megascolex caeruleus Proc. Zoo. Soc. Lond. 12:89-91 http://biodiversitylibrary.org/item/46217#page/101/mode/1up Froriep. ? Notizen 1845 34: 181 183.
- 1844a. On some varieties of the monkeys of Ceylon, Cercopithecus pileatus and Loris gracilis. Proc. Zoo. Soc. Lond. 1844: 3; Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. 1844 14: 361-362.http://biodiversitylibrary.org/item/46217#page/15/mode/1uphttp://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/19582#page/391/mode/1up
- 1844b. Communication, accompanied with drawings of Semnopithecus leucoprymnus nestor Benn. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1844: 1.http://biodiversitylibrary.org/item/46217#page/13/mode/1up
- 1847. Description of some species of the lepidopterous genus Oiketicus from Ceylon. Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond. 5: 30-40. http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/51010
- 1847a. Notes upon Ceylonese Lepidoptera. Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond. 5: 44-45. http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/51010
- 1851. Description of a new species of Sorex from India. Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 1851 21: 106;
- 1855 ? Ann. Nat. Hist. 15: 238-239.
- 1858. On a new species of Vaginula from Ceylon. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. 1: 49-50, plate 18 - Acetate of Strychnine useful to entomologists.
- 18- List of Thysanura, Myriapoda, Scorpionidae, Cheliferidae and Phrynidae of Ceylon. Author, Colombo.
External links
- Tennent's Ceylon
- Sri Lanka Wildlife
- Butterflies of Sri Lanka
- Environment Lanka
- Soft Coral Project
- BHL Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond. Volume 1
- BHL Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond. Volume 2
- BHL Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond. Volume 3
- BHL Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond. Volume 5