Jacques von Bedriaga

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Jacques Vladimir von Bedriaga; (last name sometimes spelled Bedryagha) (1854-1906) was a Russian herpetologist who was a native of the village Kriniz. He studied sciences at Moscow University under the direction of Anatoly Bogdanov (1834-1896), and afterwards moved to Germany, where he studied at the University of Jena with Ernst Haeckel (1834-1919) and Carl Gegenbaur (1826-1903). In 1875 he obtained his doctorate with a thesis concerning the urogenital organs of reptiles.

After graduation, Bedriaga continued his research on reptiles with Gegenbaur, and made frequent scientific trips to regions around the Mediterranean. In 1880 he published an important work on Greek herpetology called Die Amphibien und Reptilien Griechenlands. He also made occasional visits back to Russia, where he studied collections reported from Russian expeditions to Central Asia, including those of Nikolai Przewalski (1839-1888). In 1881 he moved to Nice for reasons of health, and later lived in Florence, where he died in 1906.

Bedriaga has a handful of herpetological species named after him, including Bedriaga's Rock Lizard, Bedriaga's Fringe-fingered Lizard, Bedriaga's Skink, and Rana bedriagae (Levant Water Frog).

[edit] Selected publications

• Ueber die Entstehung der Farben bei den Eidechsen (About the emergence of color in lizards) 1874
• Die Amphibien und Reptilien Griechenlands (The Amphibians and Reptiles of Greece) 1880
• Beiträge zur Kenntnis der Amphibien und Reptilien der Fauna von Corsika (Contributions to the Knowledge of Amphibians and Reptiles of Corsica) 1883
• Beiträge zur Kenntnis der Lacertiden-Familie. (Lacerta, Algiroides, Tropidosaura, Zerzumia und Bettaia) (Contributions to the Knowledge of the Lacertiden Family) 1886
• Wissenschaftliche Resultate der von N. M. Przewalski nach Central-Asien untemammenen Reisen

[edit] References

• This article is based on a translation of an article from the French Wikipedia.