Perry Oveitt Simons (October 6, 1869 – 1901) was an American scientific collector. He predominantly worked in the

Neotropics The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone. Definition In biogeog ...

Early life and education

Simons was born on October 6, 1869, in

Mineral Point, Wisconsin Mineral Point is a city in Iowa County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 2,581 at the 2020 census. The city is located within the Town of Mineral Point and is part of the Madison metropolitan area. Mineral Point was settled in 182 ...

. He had at least one brother, Luther B. Simons. In 1886 he left Wisconsin for

Riverside, California Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. As of the 2020 census, the city has a population of 314,998. It is the most populous city in th ...

, where he graduated from Riverside High School in 1893. He spent four years at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

as an electrical engineering major.

Career

His first job in the natural sciences was working for William W. Price as a scientific collector in Mexico from 1896 to 1897. He was joined by his brother, Luther. The mammal specimens collected on this 10-month expedition were purchased by the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

. British Museum zoologist

Oldfield Thomas Michael Rogers Oldfield Thomas (21 February 1858 – 16 June 1929) was a British zoologist. Career Thomas worked at the Natural History Museum, London, Natural History Museum on mammals, describing about 2,000 new species and subspecies for ...

was so pleased by the quality of the specimens, he offered Simons a job collecting additional specimens in South America. Luther accompanied Perry for the first two years of the expedition before sailing back to San Francisco.

Death

While crossing the Argentinean

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

around the end of December 1901, Simons was murdered by his guide. The guide struck him in the back of the head before driving a spike through his forehead. His body was found, and it was buried nearby. The motive was said to be robbery, and the guide was captured and imprisoned in

Mendoza, Argentina Mendoza (), officially the City of Mendoza (), is the capital of the Provinces of Argentina, province of Mendoza Province, Mendoza in Argentina. It is located in the northern-central part of the province, in a region of foothills and high plain ...

. After Simons's death, Oldfield Thomas called him "the most successful mammal collector that I have ever had to deal with", noting, "we shall not easily find his like again".

Namesake species

Several species were named after Simons: Reptiles: *Simons's whorltail iguana ('' Stenocercus simonsii)'' *Simons's green racer ('' Philodryas simonsi)'' *Simons's sun tegu ('' Euspondylus simonsii)'' Amphibians: *Paramo robber frog ('' Pristimantis simonsii)'' *Sucre water frog ('' Telmatobius simonsi)'' Birds: * Puna tapaculo (''Scytalopus simonsi)'' Mammals: * Simons's spiny rat (''Proechimys simonsi)'' Fish: *'' Astroblepus simonsii'' Another species of reptile in the genus ''

Liolaemus ''Liolaemus'' is a genus of iguanian lizards, containing many species, all of which are endemic to South America. Description Members of the genus ''Liolaemus'' form a dominant part of the lizard fauna of the southern part of the continent of ...

'' was named ''L. simonsi'' after him, though it was found to be a synonym of ''L. ornatus''.

References

1869 births 1901 deaths American collectors People from Mineral Point, Wisconsin American people murdered abroad Stanford University alumni Zoological collectors People murdered in Argentina {{authority control