Charles Domergue

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Charles Domergue
Domergue during herpetological studies in Reggane , Algeria in 1960.
Domergue receiving a Malagasy Order of Merit.

Charles Antoine Domergue (born January 5, 1914 in Besançon , France , † December 31, 2008 in Tananarive , Madagascar ) was a French naturalist , ornithologist , speleologist and herpetologist who researched much of his life in Madagascar. He also dealt with the effects of environmental pollution .

Live and act

As a teenager in the 1920s, Domergue explored caves in the Jura and the Doubs department with Professor Eugène Fournier . In 1937 he received degrees in physics, chemistry and biology. Certificates in botany, zoology, geology and general chemistry followed between 1938 and 1945. During the Second World War, Domergue was a member of the Resistance group Franche-Comté Liberation. In February 1944 he was arrested by the Gestapo, tortured and deported to Germany. In August 1944 he was able to break free. In 1946 he was awarded the Médaille de la Résistance for his bravery. In 1946 he went to Tunisia as a hydrogeologist , where he was involved in the construction of artesian wells in the desert regions of the country. After Tunisia gained independence in 1956, he continued his work in Algeria. When Algeria also declared its independence in 1962, he went back to France for a short time. In 1962 he obtained the License d'État et License d'Enseignement en Sciences (equivalent to Docteur es Sciences) for his geological and herpetological research work in Tunisia and Madagascar. He then worked at the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris. Domergue was a close collaborator of Édouard-Raoul Brygoo . He had a laboratory at L'Institut Pasteur de Madagascar , where he worked until his death. He was a professor at the University of Toliara in Madagascar and a member of L'Académie malgache. Domergue described numerous species and subspecies of reptiles in Madagascar, including several species of chameleons and snakes. In 1973 he wrote a book about the chameleons of Madagascar entitled Notes sur les Caméléons de Madagascar .

Charles Domergue was married to Rose Lavite, who supported him in his research for more than 30 years. The daughter Sylvie (* 1964) and the son Claude (* 1944) emerged from this marriage. The daughter is a professor of music, the son is a pilot.

Dedications and dedication names

The PK32-Ranobe reserve, north of Toliara between the Manombo and Fiherenana rivers, is nicknamed Forêt Domergue . In 1965 the French herpetologist Georges Pasteur named the subgenus Domerguella from the gecko genus Lygodactylus in honor of Domergue. In 1980 Rolande Roux-Esteve named the blind snake species Typhlops domerguei after Domergue. The chameleon species Brookesia thieli , described by Domergue and Brygoo in 1969, bears the common name Domergue's Leaf Chameleon in English .

Awards

Fonts (selection)

  • 1942: Les serpents de Franche-Comté: Description, habitat, reproduction, venin, chasse, vie en captivité, légend suivis d'une brève étude des lézards (with 27 illustrations, including 17 drawings by the author). édition Imprimerie de l'Est (Besançon)
  • 1962: Un serpent venimeux à Madagascar: Madagascarophis colubrina. Bull. Acad. malg.
  • 1963: Observation sur les hémipénis des ophidiens et sauriens de Madagascar. Bull. Acad. malg., 21-23
  • 1967: Clé simplifiée pour la détermination sur le terrain des serpents communs de Madagascar. Bull. Acad. malg.
  • 1970: Notes sur les Serpents de la Région Malgache. Lycodryas maculatus (Günther, 1858), espèce des Comores. Description de deux femelles. Bull. Mus. Nat. Hist. Nat. Paris, 42: 449-451.
  • 1972-1973: II. Étude de trois Serpents malgaches: Liopholidophis lateralis (D. & B.), L. stumpffi (Boettger) et L. thieli n. Sp. Bull. Mus. Nat. Hist. Nat. Paris, 77: 1397-1412
  • 1973: Notes sur les Caméléons de Madagascar
  • 1983: La forêt du PK 32 au nord de Tuléar. Note préliminaire en vue de sa mise en réserve. Bull. Acad. malg., 61: 105-114
  • 1994: Nouvelles espèces du complexe Stenophis et Lycodrias. Bull. Acad. malg. 21 avril
  • 1994: Notes sur les serpents de la region malgache. X. Boïginae nouveaux des genres Stenophis et Lycodrias. Bull. Acad. malg.

literature

personal data
SURNAME Domergue, Charles
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Domergue, Charles Antoine (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French naturalist, ornithologist, cave explorer and herpetologist
DATE OF BIRTH January 5, 1914
PLACE OF BIRTH Besançon , France
DATE OF DEATH December 31, 2008
Place of death Tananarive , Madagascar