Jean Baptiste Bory de Saint-Vincent (6 July 1778 – 22 December 1846) was a French naturalist. (His personal name is variously reported, including "Jean Baptiste Marcellin" and "Jean Baptiste George Marie".)
He was born at Agen. He was sent as naturalist with Captain Nicolas Baudin's expedition to Australia in 1798, but left the vessel at Mauritius, and spent two years in exploring Réunion and other islands in the Indian Ocean. Joining the army on his return, he was present at the battle of Ulm and battle of Austerlitz, and in 1808 went to Spain with Marshal Soult. In 1815, he supported Napoleon and opposed the Bourbons. Consequently he was proscribed after the Bourbon restoration. But after several years of exile, he was allowed to return quietly to Paris in 1820. In 1829 he headed a scientific expedition to the Peloponnese, and in 1839 he had charge of the exploration of Algeria.
He was editor of the Dictionnaire classique d'histoire naturelle (Classical Dictionary of Natural History). His own publications include Essais sur les Iles Fortunées (1802; Essays on the Fortunate Islands Canary Islands), Voyage dans les Iles d'Afrique (1803; Travels in the Islands of Africa), Voyage souterrain, ou description du plateau de Saint-Pierre de Maestricht et de ses vastes cryptes (1821; Travels Underground, or Description of St. Pietersberg in Maastricht and Its Great Caves), L'Homme, essai zoologique sur le genre humain (1827; Man: Zoological Essay on the Human Species), in which he adopted a polygenist perspective.[1] and Resume de la géographie de la Peninsule (1838; Summary of the Geography of the Iberian Peninsula).