James A. Peters

James Arthur Peters (July 13, 1922 – December 18, 1972) was born in Durant, Iowa; grew up in Greenup, Illinois. He studied at the University of Michigan and obtained his Ph.D. in biology in 1952. He studied with the herpetologist Norman Edouard Hartweg.

Dr. James Arthur Peters
BornJuly 13, 1922
Durant, Iowa, United States
DiedDecember 18, 1972 (1972-12-19) (aged 50)
NationalityUnited States
Alma materUniversity of Michigan
Known forHis research on herpetofauna of Ecuador
Scientific career
FieldsHerpetology
InstitutionsSmithsonian Institution

His main subject of research was herpetology and zoogeography of Latin America, especially Ecuador. During his thirty years of research in herpetology he described seventeen new species or subspecies, most of them amphibians, such as a few neotropical toads of the genus Atelopus.

Peters died of liver cancer in 1972 (Irish and Zug 1982).

Career and positions

He held teaching positions in

He held positions in the Department of Reptiles and Amphibians at the Smithsonian Institution

  • Associate Curator (1964–1967)
  • Curator (1967–1972)

Peters was a member of professional societies such as: American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, where he served as secretary, 1960–1966, vice-president, 1967 and president, 1970. He was elected to the Washington Biologists’ Field Club. He inaugurated the Smithsonian Herpetological Information Services which distributed materials to herpetological institutions and individuals. He founded the newsletter MUDPIE (Museum and University Data Program and Information Exchange) providing information on computer programs, references, grants, meetings, etc.

Honors

Several neotropical amphibians and reptiles are named after him, including Ameerega petersi, Anadia petersi, Andinosaura petrorum, Colostethus jacobuspetersi, Dipsas jamespetersi, Gonatodes petersi, Helicops petersi, Micrurus petersi, Pristimantis petersi, and Tantilla petersi.[1] James Peters is not to be confused with Wilhelm Peters (1815-1883), a German herpetologist, after whom also several species were named. In fact, Andinosaura petrorum was named after both James Peters and Wilhelm Peters, with "petrorum" meaning "of the Peters", honoring both contributions to neotropical herpetology.[2]

Selected works
  • Peters JA (1960). Snakes of the Subfamily Dipsadinae. University of Michigan Museum of Zoology.
  • Peters JA, Orejas-Miranda B, Donoso-Barros R (1970). Catalogue of Neotropical Squamata. Washington, District of Columbia: Smithsonian Institution. 2 vols. B9149.
  • Peters JA (1959). Classic Papers in Genetics. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Inc.
  • Peters JA (1964). Dictionary of Herpetology. New York: Hafner.
  • Article in the Concise American Heritage Dictionary.
  • Article in the Encyclopædia Britannica.
  • The snakes of Ecuador; check list and key (The Museum, Cambridge, 1960).

References
  1. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. ("Peters, J.A.", p. 204).
  2. Kizirian, David A. (1996). "A Review of Ecuadorian Proctoporus (Squamata: Gymnophthalmidae) with Descriptions of Nine New Species". Herpetological Monographs. 10: 85–155. doi:10.2307/1466981. JSTOR 1466981.

Further reading
  • Adler, Kraig (1989). Contributions to the History of Herpetology. Society for the study of amphibians and reptiles.
  • Smithsonian Institution Archives. Record Unit 7175 James A. Peters Papers and Records of the Division of Reptiles and Amphibians
  • Perry MC (editor) (2007). The Washington Biologists’ Field Club: Its Members and its History (1900-2006). Published by the Washington Biologists’ Field Club, Washington, D.C. 352 pp. ISBN 0615162592\9780615162591


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