Richard Thomas (herpetologist) American taxonomist and systematist (born 1938)
John Paul Richard Thomas (born 1938) is an American taxonomist and systematist , and retired professor of herpetology and evolution at University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras (San Juan, Puerto Rico ).[ 1] amphibians and reptiles , from throughout the Caribbean islands including the common coquí (Eleutherodactlys coqui) ,[ 2] Puerto Rico .[ 3]
Early life and education
Thomas was born in Jacksonville, Florida , USA, on May 2, 1938.[ 4] University of South Florida , Thomas graduated as a Bachelor of Arts in 1969. Later, he went to Louisiana State University and obtained a PhD in 1976.[ 1] [ 5]
Research
Thomas' research has focused mostly on amphibians and reptiles, spanning several fields from natural history to systematics and evolution. His studies have yielded descriptions of new species of dwarf geckos (Sphaerodactylus Scolecophidia ),[ 6] [ 7] Eleutherodactylus [ 8] [ 9]
Taxonomic descriptions
During his career as herpetologist, Thomas has described more than 60 new species.[ 8] [ 9] [ 10]
Bachia panoplia Thomas, 1965 Mitophis pyrites Thomas, 1965 Sphaerodactylus parthenopion Thomas, 1965 Typhlops syntherus Thomas, 1965 Amphisbaena xera Thomas, 1966 Eleutherodactylus coqui Thomas, 1966 Eleutherodactylus schwartzi Thomas, 1966 Sphaerodactylus elasmorhynchus Thomas, 1966 Typhlops monastus Thomas, 1966 Anolis rimarum Thomas & Schwartz , 1967 Cubatyphlops epactius (Thomas, 1968) Celestus agasepsoides (Thomas, 1971) Amerotyphlops tasymicris Thomas, 1974 Typhlops hectus Thomas, 1974 Eleutherodactylus probolaeus Schwartz & Thomas, 1987 Sphaerodactylus semasiops Thomas, 1975 Sphaerodactylus cryphius Thomas & Schwartz, 1977 Sphaerodactylus nycteropus Thomas & Schwartz, 1977 Sphaerodactylus streptophorus Thomas & Schwartz, 1977 Sibynomorphus oneilli Rossman & Thomas, 1979Bolitoglossa digitigrada Wake , Brame & Thomas, 1982Sphaerodactylus omoglaux Thomas, 1982 Sphaerodactylus williamsi Thomas & Schwartz, 1983 Mitophis asbolepis Thomas, McDiarmid & Thompson , 1985 Mitophis calypso Thomas, McDiarmid & Thompson, 1985 Mitophis leptipileptus Thomas, McDiarmid & Thompson, 1985 Eleutherodactylus amadeus Hedges , Thomas & Franz , 1987Eleutherodactylus parapelates Hedges & Thomas, 1987 Sphaerodactylus ladae Thomas & Hedges, 1988 Sphaerodactylus perissodactylus Thomas & Hedges, 1988 Anolis placidus Hedges & Thomas, 1989 Celestus macrotus Thomas & Hedges, 1989 Typhlops schwartzi Thomas, 1989 Typhlops tetrathyreus Thomas, 1989 Typhlops titanops Thomas, 1989 Typhlops catapontus Hedges & Thomas, 1991 Typhlops hypomethes Hedges & Thomas, 1991 Eleutherodactylus caribe Hedges & Thomas, 1992 Eleutherodactylus corona Hedges & Thomas, 1992 Eleutherodactylus dolomedes Hedges & Thomas, 1992 Eleutherodactylus guantanamera Hedges, Estrada & Thomas, 1992 Eleutherodactylus ionthus Hedges, Estrada & Thomas, 1992 Eleutherodactylus mariposa Hedges, Estrada & Thomas, 1992 Eleutherodactylus melacara Hedges, Estrada & Thomas, 1992 Sphaerodactylus cricoderus Thomas, Hedges & Garrido , 1992 Sphaerodactylus schwartzi Thomas, Hedges & Garrido, 1992 Sphaerodactylus plummeri Thomas & Hedges, 1992 Sphaerodactylus epiurus Thomas & Hedges, 1993 Amphisbaena carlgansi Thomas & Hedges, 1998 Diploglossus garridoi Thomas & Hedges, 1998 Sphaerodactylus pimienta Thomas, Hedges & Garrido, 1998 Sphaerodactylus schuberti Thomas & Hedges, 1998 Sphaerodactylus ariasae Hedges & Thomas, 2001 Amphisbaena cayemite Thomas & Hedges, 2006 Amphisbaena leali Thomas & Hedges, 2006 Eleutherodactylus juanariveroi Rios-López & Thomas, 2007Typhlops agoralionis Thomas & Hedges, 2007 Typhlops anchaurus Thomas & Hedges, 2007 Typhlops anousius Thomas & Hedges, 2007 Typhlops arator Thomas & Hedges, 2007 Typhlops contorhinus Thomas & Hedges, 2007 Typhlops eperopeus Thomas & Hedges, 2007 Typhlops notorachius Thomas & Hedges, 2007 Typhlops paradoxus Thomas & Hedges, 2007 Typhlops perimychus Thomas & Hedges, 2007 Typhlops proancylops Thomas & Hedges, 2007 Typhlops satelles Thomas & Hedges, 2007 Typhlops sylleptor Thomas & Hedges, 2007 Nota bene binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a different genus .
Eponyms
Richard Thomas is honored in the scientific names of several lizards, namely Liolaemus thomasi [ 1] Anolis equestris thomasi Schwartz 1958,[ 11] Leiocephalus lunatus thomasi Schwartz 1967,[ 12] Sphaerodactylus microlepis thomasi Schwartz 1965.[ 13]
References
^ a b c Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles ISBN 9781421402277 ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5 (hardcover).^ Thomas, Richard (1966). "New species of Antillean Eleutherodactylus ". Quarterly Journal of the Florida Academy of Sciences . 28 (4): 375– 391. JSTOR 24315255 . ^ "FIELD LISTING :: NATIONAL SYMBOL(S)" . Archived from the original on January 3, 2012.^ "John Paul Richard Thomas in the 1940 Census" .^ "LSU HISTORICAL DISSERTATIONS AND THESES" .^ Thomas, Richard; Hedges, S. Blair (2007). "Eleven new species of snakes of the genus Typhlops (Serpentes: Typhlopidae) from Hispaniola and Cuba" . Zootaxa . 1400 : 1– 26. doi :10.11646/zootaxa.1400.1.1 . ^ Hedges, S. Blair; Thomas, Richard (2001). "At the lower size limit in Amniote Vertebrates: A new diminutive lizard from the West Indies" . Caribbean Journal of Science . 37 (3): 168– 173. ^ a b "The Reptile Database" .^ a b "Richard Thomas" .^ "AmphibiaWeb" .^ Schwartz, Albert (1958). "A New Subspecies of Anolis equestris from Eastern Cuba" . Herpetologica . 14 (1): 1– 7. ISSN 0018-0831 . ^ Tulane University.; University, Tulane (1967). Tulane studies in zoology ^ Schwartz, Albert (1965). "A New Subspecies of the Gecko Sphaerodactylus microlepis" . Herpetologica . 21 (4): 261– 269. ISSN 0018-0831 .
