François Marie Daudin

François Marie Daudin (25 March 1774 – 1804) was a French zoologist.

With legs paralyzed by childhood disease, he studied of physics and natural history, but ended up being devoted to the latter.

Daudin wrote Traité élémentaire et complet d'Ornithologie (Natural History of Birds) in 1799–1800. It was one of the first modern handbooks of ornithology, combining Linnean binomial nomenclature with the anatomical and physiological descriptions of Buffon. Unfortunately, while an excellent beginning, it was never completed.

In 1800, he also published Recueil de mémoires et de notes sur des espèces inédites ou peu connues de mollusques, de vers et de zoophytes (Collection of memories and notes on new or little-known species of molluscs, worms and zoophytes).

Daudin found his greatest success in herpetology. He published Histoire naturelle des reinettes, des grenouilles et des crapauds (Natural history of tree frogs, frogs and toads) in 1802, and Histoire naturelle, générale et particulière des reptiles (Natural History of Reptiles) (8 volumes) in 1802–1803. This latter work contained descriptions of 517 species, many for the first time, based on examining over 1100 specimens.

He was assisted by his wife Adèle, who drew the illustrations, but his books were commercial failures and the couple lived in poverty. She died of tuberculosis in early 1804, and he followed shortly thereafter, not yet 30 years old.

Contents

Taxonomic credits

Despite his short life, Daudin made a lasting contribution to taxonomy.

Birds

Reptiles

Amphibians

Molluscs

Annelids

Species named in Daudin's honour

References

  1. ^ 2007 IUCN Red List – Search