Nicolas Auguste Pomel (20 September 1821 – 2 August 1898) was a French geologist, paleontologist and botanist. He worked as a mines engineer in

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , religi ...

and became a specialist in north African vertebrate fossils. He was Senator of Algeria for Oran from 1876 to 1882.

Life

Nicolas-Auguste Pomel was born in

Issoire Issoire (; Auvergnat: ''Issoire'', ''Ussoire'') is a commune in the Puy-de-Dôme department in Auvergne in central France. Geography Issoire is located on the river Couze, near its confluence with the Allier, SSE of Clermont-Ferrand on th ...

, Puy-de-Dôme, on 20 September 1821. He studied at the Lycée de Clermont and earned his Licence ès sciences. He was conscripted into the army when he was prepared to enter the

École des mines École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

. He became a civil engineer after being released. After the coup d'état of 2 December 1851 his Republican beliefs earned him deportation. He became a ''Garde des mines'' in Oran in 1866, and was promoted to the 1st class in 1872. From 1876 to 1882 he was member of the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the e ...

(Oran division). In 1882 he was tasked with geological mapping of Algeria.BHL
Taxonomic literature : a selective guide to botanical publications and collections with dates, commentaries and types He died in Dra-el-Mizan. Pomel was also a prolific botanist, naming and describing many plant species and some

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial ...

as well. The genus ''Pomelia'' (Durando ex Pomel) from the family

Apiaceae Apiaceae or Umbelliferae is a family of mostly aromatic flowering plants named after the type genus '' Apium'' and commonly known as the celery, carrot or parsley family, or simply as umbellifers. It is the 16th-largest family of flowering plant ...

is named in his honor.

Published works

He was the author of nearly 100 publications on

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in t ...

; his works include ''Sur les Alcyonaires fossiles Miocenes de l'Algerie'' (1868) Catalogue of Scientific Papers (1800–1900): ser. 2 , 1864–1873
by Henry White, Herbert McLeod, Henry Forster Morley and ''Des races indigènes de l'Algérie et du rôle que leur reservent leurs aptitudes'' (1871). Other written efforts by Pomel are: * ''Catalogue méthodique et descriptif des vertébrés fossiles'', 1853 – Catalog and description of vertebrate fossils. * ''Classification méthodique et genera des échinides vivants et fossiles'', 1883 – Classification of living and fossil Echinidae. * ''Contributions a la classification méthodique des Crucifères'', 1883 – Contributions to the methodical classification of

Cruciferae Brassicaceae () or (the older) Cruciferae () is a medium-sized and economically important family of flowering plants commonly known as the mustards, the crucifers, or the cabbage family. Most are herbaceous plants, while some are shrubs. The le ...

. * ''Une mission scientifique en Tunisie en 1877'', 1884 – A scientific mission to

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

in 1877. * ''Paléontologie ou description des animaux fossiles de l'Algérie'', 1885–87 –

Paleontology Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fos ...

; a description of animal fossils from Algeria. * ''Description stratigraphique générale de l'Algérie'', 1889 – General

stratigraphic Stratigraphy is a branch of geology concerned with the study of rock layers ( strata) and layering (stratification). It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks. Stratigraphy has three related subfields: lithostr ...

description of Algeria. * ''Caméliens et Cervidés'', 1893 –

Camelid Camelids are members of the biological family Camelidae, the only currently living family in the suborder Tylopoda. The seven extant members of this group are: dromedary camels, Bactrian camels, wild Bactrian camels, llamas, alpacas, vicuñas, ...

s and

cervid Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the rei ...

s. * ''Les Rhinocéros quaternaire'', 1895 – Quaternary

rhinoceros A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant taxon, extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family (biology), family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member ...

. * ''Les éléphants quaternaires'', 1895 – Quaternary

elephant Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae ...

s. * ''Singe et homme'', 1896 – Monkeys and humans.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pomel, Auguste 1821 births 1898 deaths 19th-century French botanists French geologists French paleontologists People from Issoire