Anselme Gaëtan Desmarest (6 March 1784 – 4 June 1838) was a French
zoologist
Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and d ...
and author. He was the son of
Nicolas Desmarest and father of
Eugène Anselme Sébastien Léon Desmarest. Desmarest was a disciple of
Georges Cuvier
Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric, Baron Cuvier (; 23 August 1769 – 13 May 1832), known as Georges Cuvier, was a French naturalist and zoologist, sometimes referred to as the "founding father of paleontology". Cuvier was a major figure in nat ...
and
Alexandre Brongniart, and in 1815, he succeeded
Pierre André Latreille
Pierre André Latreille (; 29 November 1762 – 6 February 1833) was a French zoologist, specialising in arthropods. Having trained as a Roman Catholic priest before the French Revolution, Latreille was imprisoned, and only regained his freed ...
to the professorship of zoology at the '. He was elected to the
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
in 1819 and to the
Académie Nationale de Médecine in 1820.
Desmarest published ' (1805), ' (1825), ' (1820) and ' (1816–30, with
André Marie Constant Duméril).
The
brown algae ''
Desmarestia
''Desmarestia'' is a genus of brown algae found worldwide. It is also called acid weed, acidweed, ', sea sorrel, (), ', mermaid's hair, landlady's wig, or '. However, 'sea sorrel' can also specifically refer to '' Desmarestia viridis''. Mem ...
'' is named in honour of Desmarest,
as well as the family (
Desmarestiaceae) — and in turn, the order (
Desmarestiales) — of which the genus is the
type species
In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen( ...
.
References
French zoologists
French taxonomists
1784 births
1838 deaths
French carcinologists
French mammalogists
French ornithologists
18th-century French zoologists
19th-century French zoologists
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