Arthur Sperry Pearse (March 15, 1877 – December 11, 1956) was a

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

and

zoologist Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoology is one ...

from the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. He was born at a

Pawnee people The Pawnee, also known by their endonym (which translates to "Men of Men"), are an Plains Indians, Indigenous people of the Great Plains that historically lived in Nebraska and northern Kansas but today are based in Oklahoma. They are the federa ...

reserve in

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

, where his parents had a commercial outpost. He earn a BA at the

University of Nebraska A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

in 1900 and a MA, at the same university in 1904. Pearse received his Ph.D. in zoology from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

in 1908, with a dissertation entitled "The Reaction of Amphibians to Light". After earning his PH.D he taught at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

and later he became part of the faculty at the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

. In 1926, he became the president of the

Ecological Society of America The Ecological Society of America (ESA) is a professional organization of ecological scientists. Based in the United States and founded in 1915, ESA publications include peer-reviewed journals, newsletters, fact sheets, and teaching resources. I ...

. He joined the Biology Department of

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

in 1927. Here he founded ''Ecological Monographs'', that was the first science journal from the

Duke University Press Duke University Press is an academic publisher and university press affiliated with Duke University. It was founded in 1921 by William T. Laprade as The Trinity College Press. (Duke University was initially called Trinity College). In 1926 ...

. In 1935, a new Zoology Department was created under the leadership of Pearse. He later play a significant role in the creation of the Marine Laboratory in Beaufort, North Carolina, where he was the Director from 1938 to 1945. He retired in 1948.

Taxon named in his honor

*The Colombian plump frog '' Elachistocleis pearsei'' is a species of

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely semiaquatic group of short-bodied, tailless amphibian vertebrates composing the order (biology), order Anura (coming from the Ancient Greek , literally 'without tail'). Frog species with rough ski ...

in the family

Microhylidae The Microhylidae, commonly known as narrow-mouthed frogs, are a geographically widespread family (biology), family of frogs. The 683 species are in 57 genera and 11 subfamilies. Evolution A molecular phylogenetic study by van der Meijden, et al. ...

. It is found in the Pacific versant of western

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

, Caribbean lowlands of

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

and into the

Magdalena River Valley The Magdalena River (, ; less commonly ) is the main river of Colombia, flowing northward about through the western half of the country. It takes its name from the biblical figure Mary Magdalene. It is navigable through much of its lower reaches, ...

, and in northwest

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

. *The Mexican blind brotula, ''Typhliasina pearsei'' is a species of

viviparous brotula The viviparous brotulas form a family, the Bythitidae, of ophidiiform fishes. They are known as viviparous brotulas as they generally bear live young, although there are indications that some species (at least '' Didymothallus criniceps'') do n ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, where it is found in

sinkhole A sinkhole is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. The term is sometimes used to refer to doline, enclosed depressions that are also known as shakeholes, and to openings where surface water ...

s and

cave Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's Planetary surface, surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance undergrou ...

s. *'' Chaetostoma pearsei'' is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

catfish Catfish (or catfishes; order (biology), order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Catfish are common name, named for their prominent barbel (anatomy), barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, though not ...

in the family

Loricariidae Loricariidae is the largest family (biology), family of catfish (order Siluriformes), with over 90 genus, genera and just over 680 species. Loricariids originate from freshwater habitats of Costa Rica, Panama, and tropical and subtropical South A ...

. It is native to

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

, where it occurs in the basins of the

Tuy River The Tuy River is a river of northern Venezuela, in the Valles del Tuy (Tuy Valleys) of Miranda State. The principal river of Miranda, it flows north from Aragua State through Miranda into the Caribbean Sea. Tributaries include the Guaire River, ...

and Lake Valencia in

. *'' Cincelichthys pearsei'', the Pantano cichlid, is a species of fish in the family

Cichlidae Cichlids () are a large, diverse, and widespread family of percomorph fish in the family Cichlidae, order Cichliformes. At least 1,760 species have been scientifically described, making it one of the largest vertebrate families, with on ...

from the

Usumacinta River The Usumacinta River (; named after the howler monkey) is a river in southeastern Mexico and northwestern Guatemala. It is formed by the junction of the Pasión River, which arises in the Sierra de Santa Cruz (in Guatemala) and the Salinas ...

basin in southern

and northern

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

Possible Taxon named in his honor

These taxa may or may not have been named after Pearse * '' Chaceus pearsei'', a crab in the family

Pseudothelphusidae Pseudothelphusidae is a family of freshwater crabs found chiefly in mountain streams in the Neotropics. They are believed to have originated in the Greater Antilles and then crossed to Central America via a Pliocene land bridge. Some species of t ...

* '' Crocosmia pearsei'', a plant in the family

Iridaceae Iridaceae () is a family of plants in order Asparagales, taking its name from the Iris (plant), irises. It has a nearly global distribution, with 69 accepted genera with a total of about 2500 species. It includes a number of economically importan ...

* '' Pseudocellus pearsei'' (Chamberlin & Ivie, 1938) — Mexico * The seastar '' Odontaster pearsei'' Janosik & Halanych, 2010 * '' Anopsicus pearsei'' Chamberlin & Ivie, 1938 (

type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * ...

) – Mexico * ''

Caulibugula pearsei ''Caulibugula'' is a genus of bryozoans belonging to the family Bugulidae. The genus has almost cosmopolitan distribution. Species: *'' Caulibugula annulata'' *'' Caulibugula arcasounensis'' *'' Caulibugula armata'' *'' Caulibugula aspinos ...

'' * The Sponge ''

Oscarella pearsei ''Oscarella'' is a genus of marine sponges. The genus can be found off the coast of every continent, in every ocean except the Arctic. Species Subtaxa include: * '' Oscarella aurantia'' Stillitani, Ereskovsky, Pérez, Ruiz, Laport, Puccine ...

'' Ereskovsky, Richter, Lavrov, Schippers & Nichols, 2017 * A species of wood lice '' Trichorhina pearsei'' * The flatworm '' Bothriocephalus pearsei'' * The flatworm '' Proteocephalus pearsei'' La Rue, 1919 * The shrimp '' Typhlatya pearsei'' Creaser, 1936 – Yucatán Peninsula * '' Periclimenaeus pearsei'' (Schmitt, 1932) * '' Typhlias pearsei'' Hubbs, 1938 * The Crayfish '' Procambarus pearsei'' (Creaser, 1934) * The ant '' Nylanderia pearsei'' Wheeler, 1938

References

1877 births 1956 deaths American botanists American zoologists People from Crete, Nebraska Harvard University alumni University of Nebraska–Lincoln alumni University of Michigan faculty University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty Duke University faculty {{US-scientist-stub