James Ray Dixon

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James Ray Dixon (born August 1, 1928 in Houston , Texas , † January 10, 2015 in Bryan , Texas) was an American herpetologist .

Life

Dixon was born in Houston and raised in El Campo , Texas. In 1950 he received his bachelor's degree in biology from Howard Payne University in Brownwood , Texas. Between 1951 and 1953 he served in the United States Marine Corps in the Korean War . After returning to the United States, he was stationed in California, where he met his wife, Mary Ellen Finlay, and married in 1953. This marriage produced five children. From 1954 to 1955, Dixon was a reptile curator at the Ross Allen Reptile Institute in Silver Springs , Florida. He then studied wildlife biology at Texas A&M University (TAMU), where he graduated with a Master of Science degree in 1957 . From 1956 to 1959 he was a lecturer at the Veterinary College at Texas A&M University. From 1959 to 1961 he held a position as a research assistant in the veterinary department of the TAMU. In 1961 he received his doctorate with a thesis on the species Phyllodactylus for Ph.D. From 1961 to 1965 he worked as a research assistant in the Department of Wildlife Management at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces . He was also a consultant in the New Mexico State Game and Fisheries Department . From 1965 to 1967, Dixon was the curator of the Herpetology Department at the Los Angeles County Museum and an associate professor at the University of Southern California . In 1967 he returned to TAMU, where he was initially an associate professor at the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences (DWFS) and was qualified as a professor in 1971. In 1995 he became professor emeritus and curator emeritus. In 1972 he became curator of the Texas Cooperative Wildlife Collection (TCWC) and in 1985 chief curator.

Asaccus elisae described by Dixon

Between 1952 and 2014 Dixon published over 300 scientific articles, of which about 24 percent were about lizards, 37 percent about snakes, and about 20 percent about regional herpetofaunas . Dixon's initial interest was geckos, later he specialized in snakes. Dixon introduced the two gecko species Crenadactylus (1964) and Asaccus (1973), and he described more than 50 new reptile and amphibian species.

Dedication names

Dixon is honored with the species Phyllodactylus dixoni and Thamnodynastes dixoni . In 1997 the gecko genus Dixonius was established.

Works (selection)

  • Amphibians and Reptiles of Los Angeles County California , 1967
  • Amphibians and Reptiles of Texas: With Keys, Taxonomic Synopses, Bibliography, and Distribution Maps , 1987 (further editions 2000 and 2013)
  • Texas Snakes: Identification, Distribution, and Natural History , 2000
  • Texas Snakes: A Field Guide , 2005

literature

  • Chris T. McAllister, Michael RJ Forstner: In Memoriam: James Ray Dixon, A Texas Herpetological Icon (1928-2015) In: Herpetological Conservation and Biology 10 (1), June 2015: p. 1-25.
  • Bo Beolens, Michael Watkins, Michael Grayson: The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD 2011, ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5 , p. 73

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Dixon, James Ray
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American herpetologist
DATE OF BIRTH August 1, 1928
PLACE OF BIRTH Houston , Texas
DATE OF DEATH January 10, 2015
Place of death Bryan , Texas