Roger Conant (herpetologist)
Encyclopedia
Roger Conant was an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 herpetologist
Herpetology
Herpetology is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians and reptiles...

, author, educator and conservationist. He was Director Emeritus
Emeritus
Emeritus is a post-positive adjective that is used to designate a retired professor, bishop, or other professional or as a title. The female equivalent emerita is also sometimes used.-History:...

 of the Philadelphia Zoo
Philadelphia Zoo
The Philadelphia Zoo, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on the west bank of the Schuylkill River, was the first zoo in the United States. Chartered by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on March 21, 1859, its opening was delayed by the American Civil War until July 1, 1874...

 and Adjunct Professor at the University of New Mexico
University of New Mexico
The University of New Mexico at Albuquerque is a public research university located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the United States. It is the state's flagship research institution...

. He wrote one of the first comprehensive field guides for North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

n 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 in 1958 entitled: Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of the Eastern United States.

Biography

Born in Mamaroneck
Mamaroneck (village), New York
Mamaroneck is a village in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 18,929 at the 2010 census. It is located partially within the town of Mamaroneck and partially within the town of Rye. The portion in Rye is unofficially called "Rye Neck"...

, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, Conant lost his father when he was young. When he was a teenager he took a job at a local zoo to help his mother make ends meet, which, along with participating in the Boy Scouts of America
Boy Scouts of America
The Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with over 4.5 million youth members in its age-related divisions...

, began his life-long passion for reptiles. He was the first Eagle Scout in Monmouth County Council, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

 in 1924. He moved to Toledo, Ohio
Toledo, Ohio
Toledo is the fourth most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Lucas County. Toledo is in northwest Ohio, on the western end of Lake Erie, and borders the State of Michigan...

 in 1929 and worked as Curator of Reptiles, and later General Curator at the Toledo Zoo
Toledo Zoo
Toledo Zoo is a zoo located in Toledo, Ohio. The zoo began in 1900 as Toledo Zoological Gardens and operated by the City of Toledo's Parks Board. In 1982 ownership was transferred from the city to Toledo Zoological Society, a private non-profit organization, and professionalized the zoo's management...

 from 1929 to 1935. In 1935 he returned to Philadelphia and became the Curator of Reptiles at the Philadelphia Zoo. He was president of the American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums from 1946 to 1947 and helped found the Philadelphia Herpetological Society
Philadelphia Herpetological Society
The Philadelphia Herpetological Society is the oldest, continually operated reptile group in North America. It was founded by Roger Conant and a group of like-minded herpetologists in 1952...

 in 1952. He was promoted to Director of the Philadelphia Zoo in 1967. He retired from the zoo in 1973 and moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque is the largest city in the state of New Mexico, United States. It is the county seat of Bernalillo County and is situated in the central part of the state, straddling the Rio Grande. The city population was 545,852 as of the 2010 Census and ranks as the 32nd-largest city in the U.S. As...

 where he became a professor at the University of New Mexico. He continued to do research and writing. Over his career he wrote some 240 scientific papers, and 12 books. He died of cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...

 in Albuquerque
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque is the largest city in the state of New Mexico, United States. It is the county seat of Bernalillo County and is situated in the central part of the state, straddling the Rio Grande. The city population was 545,852 as of the 2010 Census and ranks as the 32nd-largest city in the U.S. As...

 on December 19, 2003. A significant bequest from his estate helped put the Chihuahuan Desert Research Institute
Chihuahuan Desert Research Institute
The Chihuahuan Desert Research Institute or CDRI, incorporated in January 1974, is an independent non-profit, scientific and educational organization located on a tract in the foothills of the Davis Mountains...

 on a solid financial footing.

Roger Conant is credited with describing numerous new species of snake
Snake
Snakes are elongate, legless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. Like all squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales...

, including several species of water snake (of the genus Nerodia
Nerodia
Nerodia is a genus of nonvenomous colubrid snakes commonly referred to as water snakes.- Description :Nerodia species vary greatly, but all are relatively heavy-bodied snakes, sometimes growing to 1.2 m or larger. They have flattened heads, with small eyes that have round pupils, and keeled...

) as well as several species of garter snake (of the genus Thamnophis).

Selected bibliography

  • A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America (1958); Illustrated by Isabelle Hunt Conant (Series: Peterson Field Guides
    Peterson Field Guides
    The Peterson Field Guides are a popular and influential series of American field guides intended to assist the layman in identification of birds, plants, insects and other natural phenomena. The series was created and edited by renowned ornithologist Roger Tory Peterson...

    ); Boston
    Boston
    Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

    : Houghton Mifflin Company
    • Second edition (1975)
    • Third edition (1991), additional author: Joseph T. Collins, and illustrator: Tom R. Johnson
      • Third edition, expanded (1998); ISBN 0-395-19977-8
  • Snakes of the Agkistrodon Complex: A Monographic Review (with Howard K. Gloyd), ]]), Ssar Pubns, 1990, ISBN 0-916984-20-6
  • Autobiography: A Field Guide to the Life and Times of Roger Conant, Canyonlands Publishing Group, 1997, ISBN 0-9657446-0-4
  • The Reptiles of Virginia, Smithsonian Books, 1997, ISBN 1-56098-754-5
  • Reptiles and Amphibians (Peterson First Guides), Houghton Mifflin Company, 1999: ISBN 0-395-97195-0
  • North American Watersnakes: A Natural History, University of Oklahoma Press, 2004: ISBN 0-8061-3599-9
  • Reptile Study, Boy Scouts of America Merit Badge Series, 1944; photographs by Mark Mooney, Jr. and Isabelle Hunt Conant
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