John Paul Richard Thomas (born 1938) is an American

taxonomist In biology, taxonomy () is the scientific study of naming, defining ( circumscribing) and classifying groups of biological organisms based on shared characteristics. Organisms are grouped into taxa (singular: taxon) and these groups are given ...

and

systematist Biological systematics is the study of the diversification of living forms, both past and present, and the relationships among living things through time. Relationships are visualized as evolutionary trees (synonyms: cladograms, phylogenetic tre ...

, and retired professor of

herpetology Herpetology (from Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and caecilians (gymnophiona)) and rept ...

and

evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

at University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras (

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan (, , ; Spanish for "Saint John") is the capital city and most populous municipality in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2020 census, it is the 57th-largest city under the jur ...

). (Kindle edition). (hardcover). He described several species new to science, mostly

amphibian Amphibians are four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terrestrial, fossorial, arborea ...

s and

reptile Reptiles, as most commonly defined are the animals in the class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, squamates ( lizards and snakes) and rhynchoce ...

s, from throughout the

Caribbean islands Almost all of the Caribbean islands are in the Caribbean Sea, with only a few in inland lakes. The largest island is Cuba. Other sizable islands include Hispaniola, Jamaica, Puerto Rico and Trinidad and Tobago. Some of the smaller islands are ref ...

including the

common coquí The common coquí or coquí (''Eleutherodactylus coqui'') is a species of frog endemic to Puerto Rico belonging to the family Eleutherodactylidae. The species is named for the loud call the males make at night. This sound serves two purposes. "C ...

(''Eleutherodactlys coqui)'', the national animal of

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

Early life and education

Thomas was born in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the c ...

, USA, on May 2, 1938. At the

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, and other campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. It is one of 12 members of the State University System of Florida. USF is h ...

, Thomas graduated as a Bachelor of Arts in 1969. Later, he went to

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

and obtained a PhD in 1976.

Research

Thomas' research has focused mostly on amphibians and reptiles, spanning several fields from natural history to systematics and evolution. His studies have yielded descriptions of new species of dwarf geckos (''

Sphaerodactylus ''Sphaerodactylus'' is a genus of geckos from the Americas that are distinguished from other Gekkota by their small size, by their round, rather than vertical, eye pupils, and by each digit terminating in a single, round adhesive pad or scale, f ...

''), blind snakes (

Scolecophidia The Scolecophidia, commonly known as blind snakes or thread snakes, are an infraorder of snakes. They range in length from . All are fossorial (adapted for burrowing). Five families and 39 genera are recognized. The Scolecophidia infraorder is mos ...

), and rain frogs (''

Eleutherodactylus ''Eleutherodactylus'' is a genus of frogs in the family Eleutherodactylidae.Hedges, S. B., W. E. Duellman, and M. P. Heinicke . 2008. New World direct-developing frogs (Anura: Terrarana): molecular phylogeny, classification, biogeography, and co ...

''). Wikispecies.

Taxonomic descriptions

During his career as herpetologist, Thomas has described more than 60 new species. A non-comprehensive list of described new species includes: *'' Bachia panoplia'' *''

Mitophis pyrites Thomas's blind snake (''Mitophis pyrites'') is an endangered species of snake in the family Leptotyphlopidae.McDiarmid RW, Campbell JA, Touré T. 1999. Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, vol. 1. Herpetologists' Leag ...

'' *''

Sphaerodactylus parthenopion The Virgin Islands dwarf sphaero, Virgin Gorda least gecko, or Virgin Islands dwarf gecko (''Sphaerodactylus parthenopion'') is a species of gecko and also one of the smallest terrestrial vertebrates. It has only been found on three of the Brit ...

'' *'' Typhlops syntherus'' *'' Amphisbaena xera'' *'' Eleutherodactylus coqui'' *'' Eleutherodactylus schwartzi'' *'' Sphaerodactylus elasmorhynchus'' *'' Typhlops monastus'' *'' Anolis rimarum'' *'' Cubatyphlops epactius'' *'' Celestus agasepsoides'' *'' Amerotyphlops tasymicris'' *'' Typhlops hectus'' *'' Eleutherodactylus probolaeus'' *''

Sphaerodactylus semasiops ''Sphaerodactylus semasiops'', also known as the Cockpit eyespot sphaero or Cockpit least gecko, is a small species of gecko endemic to Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the t ...

'' *'' Sphaerodactylus cryphius'' *'' Sphaerodactylus nycteropus'' *'' Sphaerodactylus streptophorus'' *'' Sibynomorphus oneilli'' *'' Bolitoglossa digitigrada'' *'' Sphaerodactylus omoglaux'' *'' Sphaerodactylus williamsi'' *''

Mitophis asbolepis ''Mitophis asbolepis'' is an endangered species of snake in the family Leptotyphlopidae.McDiarmid RW, Campbell JA, Touré T. 1999. Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, vol. 1. Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. (series) ...

'' *''

Mitophis calypso ''Mitophis'' is a genus of snakes in the family Leptotyphlopidae. All of the species were previously placed in the genus ''Leptotyphlops''. All members of this genus are endemic to the island of Hispaniola (in the Dominican Republic and Haiti ...

'' *'' Mitophis leptipileptus'' *'' Eleutherodactylus amadeus'' *''

Eleutherodactylus parapelates ''Eleutherodactylus parapelates'' is a species of frog in the family Eleutherodactylidae. It is endemic to the Massif de la Hotte in southwestern Haiti. Common names Casillon robber frog ('' sic'' — the type locality is spelled "Castillon") a ...

Sphaerodactylus ariasae ''Sphaerodactylus ariasae'', commonly called the Jaragua sphaero or the Jaragua dwarf gecko, is the smallest species of lizard in the family Sphaerodactylidae. Description ''Sphaerodactylus ariasae'' is the world's smallest known reptile. The s ...

'' *'' Amphisbaena cayemite'' *'' Amphisbaena leali'' *'' Eleutherodactylus juanariveroi'' *'' Typhlops agoralionis'' *'' Typhlops anchaurus'' *'' Typhlops anousius'' *'' Typhlops arator'' *'' Typhlops contorhinus'' *'' Typhlops eperopeus'' *'' Typhlops notorachius'' *'' Typhlops paradoxus'' *'' Typhlops perimychus'' *'' Typhlops proancylops'' *'' Typhlops satelles'' *'' Typhlops sylleptor'' ''

Nota bene (, or ; plural form ) is a Latin phrase meaning "note well". It is often abbreviated as NB, n.b., or with the ligature and first appeared in English writing . In Modern English, it is used, particularly in legal papers, to draw the atten ...

'': A

binomial authority In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a different

genus 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 nomencla ...

Eponyms

Richard Thomas is honored in the scientific name of a species of lizard, '' Liolaemus thomasi''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Richard 1938 births American taxonomists American herpetologists People from Jacksonville, Florida University of Puerto Rico faculty Living people