Alcide Charles Victor Marie Dessalines d'Orbigny (6 September 1802 – 30 June 1857) was a French naturalist who made major contributions in many areas, including

zoology 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, an ...

(including

malacology Malacology is the branch of invertebrate zoology that deals with the study of the Mollusca (mollusks or molluscs), the second-largest phylum of animals in terms of described species after the arthropods. Mollusks include snails and slugs, clams, ...

palaeontology 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 fossi ...

geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other Astronomical object, astronomical objects, the features or rock (geology), rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology ...

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsc ...

and

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...

. D'Orbigny was born in Couëron (

Loire-Atlantique Loire-Atlantique (; br, Liger-Atlantel; before 1957: ''Loire-Inférieure'', br, Liger-Izelañ, link=no) is a department in Pays de la Loire on the west coast of France, named after the river Loire and the Atlantic Ocean. It had a population ...

), the son of a ship's physician and amateur naturalist. The family moved to

La Rochelle La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle''; oc, La Rochèla ) is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department. Wi ...

in 1820, where his interest in natural history was developed while studying the marine fauna and especially the microscopic creatures that he named "

foraminifera Foraminifera (; Latin for "hole bearers"; informally called "forams") are single-celled organisms, members of a phylum or class of amoeboid protists characterized by streaming granular ectoplasm for catching food and other uses; and commonly ...

ns". In Paris he became a disciple of the geologist

Pierre Louis Antoine Cordier Pierre Louis Antoine Cordier (31 March 1777 – 30 March 1861)
Annales.org, accessed 20 September 2009 was a French

(1777–1861) and

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 na ...

. All his life, he would follow the theory of Cuvier and stay opposed to

Lamarckism Lamarckism, also known as Lamarckian inheritance or neo-Lamarckism, is the notion that an organism can pass on to its offspring physical characteristics that the parent organism acquired through use or disuse during its lifetime. It is also calle ...

South American era

D'Orbigny travelled on a mission for the Paris Museum, in South America between 1826 and 1833. He visited Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Paraguay, and Brazil, and returned to France with an enormous collection of more than 10,000 natural history specimens. He described part of his findings in ''La Relation du Voyage dans l'Amérique Méridionale pendant les annés 1826 à 1833'' (Paris, 1824–47, in 90 fascicles). The other specimens were described by zoologists at the museum. His contemporary,

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended ...

, arrived in South America in 1832, and on hearing that he had been preceded, grumbled that D'Orbigny had probably collected "the cream of all the good things". Darwin later called D'Orbigny's Voyage a "most important work". They went on to correspond, with D'Orbigny describing some of Darwin's specimens. He was awarded the

Gold Medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have be ...

of the Société de Géographie of Paris in 1834. The South American Paleocene pantodont '' Alcidedorbignya'' was named in his honour.

1840 and later

In 1840, d'Orbigny started the methodical description of French

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

s and published ''La Paléontologie Française'' (8 vols). In 1849 he published a closely related ''Prodrome de Paléontologie Stratigraphique'', intended as a "Preface to Stratigraphic Palaeontology", in which he described almost 18,000 species, and with biostratigraphical comparisons erected geological stages, the definitions of which rest on their stratotypes. In 1853 he became professor of palaeontology at the Paris

Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle The French National Museum of Natural History, known in French as the ' (abbreviation MNHN), is the national natural history museum of France and a ' of higher education part of Sorbonne Universities. The main museum, with four galleries, is loc ...

, publishing his ''Cours élémentaire'' that related

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 fossi ...

, as a science independent of the uses made of it in

stratigraphy 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: lithost ...

. The chair of paleontology was created especially in his honor. The d'Orbigny collection is housed in the ''Salle d'Orbigny'' and is often visited by experts. He described the geological timescales and defined numerous geological strata, still used today as

chronostratigraphic Chronostratigraphy is the branch of stratigraphy that studies the ages of rock strata in relation to time. The ultimate aim of chronostratigraphy is to arrange the sequence of deposition and the time of deposition of all rocks within a geologi ...

reference such as Toarcian, Callovian, Oxfordian, Kimmeridgian,

Aptian The Aptian is an age in the geologic timescale or a stage in the stratigraphic column. It is a subdivision of the Early or Lower Cretaceous Epoch or Series and encompasses the time from 121.4 ± 1.0 Ma to 113.0 ± 1.0 Ma (million years ag ...

, Albian and

Cenomanian The Cenomanian is, in the ICS' geological timescale, the oldest or earliest age of the Late Cretaceous Epoch or the lowest stage of the Upper Cretaceous Series. An age is a unit of geochronology; it is a unit of time; the stage is a unit in ...

. He died in the small town of Pierrefitte-sur-Seine, near Paris.

Catastrophism

D'Orbigny, a disciple of Georges Cuvier, was a notable advocate of

catastrophism In geology, catastrophism theorises that the Earth has largely been shaped by sudden, short-lived, violent events, possibly worldwide in scope. This contrasts with uniformitarianism (sometimes called gradualism), according to which slow incremen ...

. He recognized twenty-seven catastrophes in the fossil record. Singer, Charles Joseph. (1931). ''The Story of Living Things: A Short Account of the Evolution of the Biological Sciences''. Harper & Bros. p. 232 This became known as the "doctrine of successive creations". Prothero, Donald R. (2013). ''Bringing Fossils to Life: An Introduction to Paleobiology''. Columbia University Press. p. 223. He attempted to reconcile the fossil record with the

Genesis creation narrative The Genesis creation narrative is the creation myth of both Judaism and Christianity. The narrative is made up of two stories, roughly equivalent to the first two chapters of the Book of Genesis. In the first, Elohim (the Hebrew generic word ...

. Both uniformitarian geologists and theologians rejected his idea of successive creations. Palaeontologist

Carroll Lane Fenton Carroll Lane Fenton (February 12, 1900, Butler County, Iowa – November 16, 1969, New Brunswick, New Jersey) was a geologist, paleontologist, neoichnologist, and historian of science. Fenton was the author and illustrator of numerous books on ...

has noted that his idea of twenty-seven world-wide creations was "absurd", even for creationists. L. Sprague de Camp has written that "Alcide d'Orbigny, carried the idea to absurdity. Dragging in the supernatural, d'Orbigny argued that, on twenty-seven separate occasions, God had wiped out all life on earth and started over with a whole new creation."

Taxa

Several zoological and

botanical Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...

taxa were named in his honor, including the following

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 nomenclat ...

and

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriat ...

. *'' Alcidedorbignya'' – an extinct genus of pantodont mammal *''Alcidia'' Bourguignat, 1889 – a genus of

sea snail Sea snail is a common name for slow-moving marine gastropod molluscs, usually with visible external shells, such as whelk or abalone. They share the taxonomic class Gastropoda with slugs, which are distinguished from snails primarily by the a ...

s *'' Ampullaria dorbignyana''

Philippi Philippi (; grc-gre, Φίλιπποι, ''Philippoi'') was a major Greek city northwest of the nearby island, Thasos. Its original name was Crenides ( grc-gre, Κρηνῖδες, ''Krenides'' "Fountains") after its establishment by Thasian colo ...

, 1851 – a species of

freshwater snail Freshwater snails are gastropod mollusks which live in fresh water. There are many different families. They are found throughout the world in various habitats, ranging from ephemeral pools to the largest lakes, and from small seeps and springs ...

*''

Apostolepis dorbignyi ''Apostolepis dorbignyi'', also known Common name, commonly as the Bolivian burrowing snake and Dorbigny's blackhead, is a species of snake in the Family (biology), family Colubridae. The species is native to western South America. Etymology The ...

'' Schlegel, 1837 – a species of burrowing snakeBeolens et al. *'' Asthenes dorbignyi'' Reichenbach, 1853 - a species of furnariid bird *''

Bachia dorbignyi ''Bachia dorbignyi'', also known commonly as Dorbigny's bachia and ''lagarto-sem-pata'' in Brazilian Portuguese, is a species of lizard in the family Gymnophthalmidae. The species is native to central South America. Etymology The specific nam ...

'' A.M.C. Duméril &

Bibron Gabriel Bibron (20 October 1805 – 27 March 1848) was a French zoologist and herpetologist. He was born in Paris. The son of an employee of the Museum national d'histoire naturelle, he had a good foundation in natural history and was hir ...

, 1839 – a species of

lizard Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia altho ...

*'' Cadomites orbignyi'' de Grossouvre, 1930 – a species of

ammonite Ammonoids are a group of extinct marine mollusc animals in the subclass Ammonoidea of the class Cephalopoda. These molluscs, commonly referred to as ammonites, are more closely related to living coleoids (i.e., octopuses, squid and cuttlefis ...

s from the

Bathonian In the geologic timescale the Bathonian is an age and stage of the Middle Jurassic. It lasted from approximately 168.3 Ma to around 166.1 Ma (million years ago). The Bathonian Age succeeds the Bajocian Age and precedes the Callovian Age. ...

*'' Chaunus dorbignyi'' (A.M.C. Duméril & Bibron, 1841) – a species of

toad Toad is a common name for certain frogs, especially of the family Bufonidae, that are characterized by dry, leathery skin, short legs, and large bumps covering the parotoid glands. A distinction between frogs and toads is not made in scient ...

*''

Haminoea orbignyana ''Haminoea'' is a genus of medium-sized sea snails or bubble snails, marine opisthobranch gastropod molluscs in the family Haminoeidae, the haminoea bubble snails, part of the clade Cephalaspidea, the headshield slugs and bubble snails.Bouchet, ...

'' A. de Férussac, 1822 – a species of sea snail *'' Hecticoceras (Orbignyceras)'' C. Gérard & H. Contaut, 1936 – a

subgenus In biology, a subgenus (plural: subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between ...

of ammonite from the Callovian *'' Liolaemus dorbignyi'' Koslowsky, 1898 – a species of lizard *'' Lystrophis dorbignyi'' A.M.C. Duméril, Bibron & A.H.A. Duméril, 1854 – a species of snake *''Nerocila orbignyi'' ( Guérin, 1832) – a species of ectoparasitic

isopod Isopoda is an order of crustaceans that includes woodlice and their relatives. Isopods live in the sea, in fresh water, or on land. All have rigid, segmented exoskeletons, two pairs of antennae, seven pairs of jointed limbs on the thorax, and ...

*'' Orbignya''

Mart. Carl Friedrich Philipp (Karl Friedrich Philipp) von Martius (17 April 1794 – 13 December 1868) was a German botanist and explorer. Life Martius was born at Erlangen, the son of Prof Ernst Wilhelm Martius, court apothecary. He graduated PhD f ...

ex Endl. – a genus of

palm trees Palm most commonly refers to: * Palm of the hand, the central region of the front of the hand * Palm plants, of family Arecaceae **List of Arecaceae genera * Several other plants known as "palm" Palm or Palms may also refer to: Music * Palm (ba ...

, which includes the species ''Orbignya speciosa'' (Mart. ex Spreng.), commonly known as the Brazilian palm tree or ''babaçu'' in Portuguese *'' Pinna dorbignyi''

Hanley Hanley is one of the six towns that, along with Burslem, Longton, Fenton, Tunstall and Stoke-upon-Trent, amalgamated to form the City of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England. Hanley is the ''de facto'' city centre, having long been the ...

, 1858 – a species of

bivalve Bivalvia (), in previous centuries referred to as the Lamellibranchiata and Pelecypoda, is a class (biology), class of marine and freshwater Mollusca, molluscs that have laterally compressed bodies enclosed by a shell consisting of two hing ...

mollusc Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is est ...

*'' Potamotrygon orbignyi'' ( Castelnau, 1855) – a species of freshwater

stingray Stingrays are a group of sea rays, which are cartilaginous fish related to sharks. They are classified in the suborder Myliobatoidei of the order Myliobatiformes and consist of eight families: Hexatrygonidae (sixgill stingray), Plesiobatidae ...

*'' Quadracythere orbignyana'' ( Bosquet, 1852) – a species of marine

ostracod Ostracods, or ostracodes, are a class of the Crustacea (class Ostracoda), sometimes known as seed shrimp. Some 70,000 species (only 13,000 of which are extant) have been identified, grouped into several orders. They are small crustaceans, typic ...

*''

Rhinodoras dorbignyi ''Rhinodoras dorbignyi'' is a species of thorny catfish found in the Paraná River basin in the countries of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. This species grows to a length of fish measurement, TL. Etymology Named after Alcide ...

'' ( Kner, 1855) – a species of

thorny catfish The Doradidae are a family of catfishes also known as thorny catfishes, raphael catfishes or talking catfishes. These fish are native to South America, primarily the Amazon basin and the Guianas. Doradids are omnivorous. Taxonomy As of 2007, ...

*'' Sepia (Rhombosepion) orbignyana'' A. de Férussac in d'Orbigny, 1826 – a species of

cuttlefish Cuttlefish or cuttles are marine molluscs of the order Sepiida. They belong to the class Cephalopoda which also includes squid, octopuses, and nautiluses. Cuttlefish have a unique internal shell, the cuttlebone, which is used for control of ...

, commonly known as the pink cuttlefish *'' Subdiscosphinctes orbignyi'' Hantzpergue, 1987 – a species of ammonites from the Kimmeridgian Pierre Hantzpergue, ''Les ammonites kimméridgiennes du haut-fond d'Europe occidentale. Biochronologie, systématique, évolution, paléogéographie'', Cahiers de paléontologie, éditions du CNRS, 1989, *'' Trachemys dorbigni'' – a species of freshwater

turtle Turtles are an order of reptiles known as Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked t ...

In the above list, a taxon author or

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, bo ...

in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than the genus to which the species is currently assigned.

Publications

References

La Gazette des Français du Paraguay, Alcide d'Orbigny – Voyageur Naturaliste pour le Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle dans le Cone Sud – Alcide d'Orbigny – Viajero Naturalista para el Museo Nacional de Historia Natural de Francia en el Cono Sur – Bilingue Français Espagnol – numéro 7, année 1, Asuncion Paraguay.

External links

* *
Gallica
Digital versions of some d'Orbigny works. Search at ''Recherche''.
''Dictionnaire Universel d'Histoire Naturelle''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Orbigny, Alcide 1802 births 1857 deaths 19th-century French zoologists Catastrophism Conchologists Christian creationists Critics of Lamarckism French entomologists French paleontologists Teuthologists National Museum of Natural History (France) people