Charles W. Myers

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Charles William Myers (born March 4, 1936 in St. Louis , Missouri ) is an American herpetologist . His research focus is the systematics of the neotropical amphibians and reptiles.

Life

In 1958 he became a research assistant at the University of Florida in Gainesville , where he obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in 1960 . In 1962 he graduated with a Master of Arts from Southern Illinois University Carbondale . From 1964 to 1967 he was a visiting scientist at the Gorgas Memorial Laboratory in Panama. From 1968 to 1973 he was assistant curator at the American Museum of Natural History . In 1970 he received a Ph.D. from the University of Kansas under the direction of William E. Duellman (* 1930). PhD in zoology. From 1973 to 1978 he was assistant curator and from 1978 to 1999 he was curator in the herpetological department of the American Museum of Natural History. From 1980 to 1987, and again from 1993 to 1999, he was chairman of the herpetological department of the American Museum of Natural History. In 1999 he retired as a curator emeritus.

Myers has published numerous scientific articles on reptiles and amphibians of the Neotropics , including Preliminary evaluation of skin toxins and vocalizations in taxonomic and evolutionary studies of poison-dart frogs (Dendrobatidae) from 1976. This study, in collaboration with John W. Daly was , pioneered the discovery of over 450 lipophilic alkaloids from at least 24 major structural classes in the poison dart frog family (Dendrobatidae). In 2000 he published a historical treatise on the herpetological department of the American Museum of Natural History, entitled A history of herpetology at the American Museum of Natural History . He described about 34 new reptile species and several new frog species from Panama and South America.

In 1985 he was executive curator of the Mountain of the Mist photo exhibition at the Akeley Gallery of the American Museum of Natural History on an expedition to the Cerro de la Neblina table mountain on the Venezuelan-Brazilian border in 1984 where several new frogs and reptiles were discovered.

Myers is a member of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists , the Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles , the Society for the History of Natural History, and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science .

Dedication names

The reptile species Amphisbaena myersi , Anolis charlesmyersi , Bothrocophias myersi , Ptychoglossus myersi and Urotheca myersi , the frog species Allobates myersi , Pipa myersi and Leptodactylus myersi and the frog genus Myersiohyla are named after Charles William Myers .

Publications (selection)

  • A history of herpetology at the American Museum of Natural History. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 2000
  • Herpetofauna of the Yutajé-Corocoro massif, Venezuela: Second report from the Robert G. Goelet American Museum-Terramar Expedition to the northwestern tepuis. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 2001
  • The Summit Herpetofauna Of Auyantepui, Venezuela: Report From The Robert G. Goelet American Museum-Terramar Expedition. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 2008
  • New Taxa and Cryptic Species of Neotropical Snakes (Xenodontinae), with Commentary on Hemipenes as Generic and Specific Characters. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 2014
  • The herpetological collection of Maximilian, Prince of Wied (1782-1867), with special reference to Brazilian materials. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 2015

literature

  • Charles William Myers. American Men & Women of Science: A Biographical Directory of Today's Leaders in Physical, Biological, and Related Sciences, Gale, 2008. Biography in Context. Retrieved online February 4, 2017
  • Bo Beolens, Michael Watkins, Michael Grayson: The Eponym Dictionary of Amphibians. Pelagic Publishing, ISBN 978-1907807411 , p. 151.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ T. Grant, DR Frost, JP Caldwell, R. Gagliardo, CFB Haddad, PJR Kok, DB Means, BP Noonan, WESchargel, WC Wheeler: Phylogenetic systematics of dart-poison frogs and their relatives (Amphibia, Athesphatanura, Dendrobatidae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 299, 2006, p. 7.
personal data
SURNAME Myers, Charles W.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Myers, Charles William (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American herpetologist
DATE OF BIRTH March 4, 1936
PLACE OF BIRTH St. Louis , Missouri