C.R. Narayan Rao (15 August 1882 – 2 January 1960) was an Indian

zoologist 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, and ...

and

herpetologist 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 r ...

. He was among the founding editors of the journal ''Current Science''. In recognition of his pioneering work on Indian amphibians, the genus '' Raorchestes'' was named after him.

Background

Born in Coimbatore, he studied in

Bellary Bellary, officially Ballari, in the eponymous Ballari district, Bellary district, is a city in the state of Karnataka, India. History Bellary was a part of Rayalaseema (Ceded Districts) which was part of Madras Presidency till 1 November ...

and at the

Madras Christian College Madras Christian College (MCC) is a liberal arts and sciences college in Chennai, India. Founded in 1837, MCC is one of Asia's oldest extant colleges. The college is affiliated to the University of Madras but functions as an autonomous institu ...

under Professor Henderson who headed the department of zoology. After obtaining his graduate and post-graduate degrees and a gold medal for proficiency, he obtained a diploma in teaching. He taught in Coimbatore and

Ernakulam Ernakulam () is the Central Business District of the city of Kochi in Kerala, India and has lent its name to the Ernakulam district. Many major establishments, including the Kerala High Court, the office of the Kochi Municipal Corporation ...

, before moving to the Central College in

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

where he organized the department of zoology and headed it until his retirement in 1937.

Contributions

His role in science and research is considered significant since he was involved in the integration of research into university education. Along with Sir

Martin Onslow Forster Sir Martin Onslow Forster, FRS (8 November 1872 – 24 May 1945) was a chemist and a director of the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, India. Forster was born in Lambeth, London. One of four children of Martin Forster, a bank clerk and ...

and other Indian scientists he helped found the journal ''Current Science'' in July 1932 along the lines of the journal ''

Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans ar ...

''. He was its first editor. In one of his first editorials, he pleaded for the coordination of scientific activities in India, a plea that helped create the

Indian Academy of Sciences The Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore was founded by Indian Physicist and Nobel Laureate C. V. Raman, and was registered as a society on 24 April 1934. Inaugurated on 31 July 1934, it began with 65 founding fellows. The first general mee ...

. Professor Rao specialized on frogs and their taxonomy. He named and described several frog species, and his work on the Archenteric and Segmentation Cavities of frogs are regarded as important contributions to our understanding of amphibian development. He described the new

Microhylid The Microhylidae, commonly known as narrow-mouthed frogs, are a geographically widespread family (biology), family of frogs. The 683 species are in 63 genera and 11 subfamilies, which is the largest number of genera of any frog family. Evolution ...

genus ''

Ramanella ''Uperodon'' is a genus of microhylid frogs. They occur in South Asia (Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal, and Bangladesh) and Myanmar. ''Uperodon'' reached its current composition in 2016 when the genus Ramanella was brought into its syn ...

''. The genus Raorchestes is named in his honour. Professor Rao presided over the zoology section of the Indian Science Congress in 1938 at

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest ...

. His account of the ovarian ovum of the

slender loris The slender lorises (''Loris'') are a genus of loris native to India and Sri Lanka. The genus comprises two species, the red slender loris found in Sri Lanka and the gray slender loris from Sri Lanka and India. Slender lorises spend most of the ...

was presented to the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, r ...

James Peter Hill James Peter Hill FRS (21 February 1873 – 24 May 1954) was a Scottish embryologist. Education Hill was born in Kennoway, Scotland on 21 February. He attended the Royal High School, Edinburgh, and graduated with a Doctor of Science from the U ...

in the latter's

Croonian Lecture The Croonian Medal and Lecture is a prestigious award, a medal, and lecture given at the invitation of the Royal Society and the Royal College of Physicians. Among the papers of William Croone at his death in 1684, was a plan to endow a single ...

Bibliography

*''Notes on some south Indian Batrachia''. Records of the Indian Museum XII (1915) *''Notes on the tadpoles of Indian Engystomatidae''. Records of the Indian Museum XV (1918) *''Some new species of cyprinoid fish from Mysore''. Annals and Magazine of Natural History (1920) *''On the structure of the ovary and ovarian ovum of Loris lydekkerianus''. Quarterly Journal of Microscopic Science LXXI (1927) *''Notes on the fresh water-fish of Mysore''. Journal of Mysore University I (with Seshachar B. R., 1927) *''Observations on the habits of the slow loris, Loris lydekkerianus''. Journal of

Bombay Natural History Society The Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), founded on 15 September 1883, is one of the largest non-governmental organisations in India engaged in conservation and biodiversity research. It supports many research efforts through grants and pub ...

XXXII (1932) *
Tadpoles of a genus not recorded from India
'. Current Science 6(9):455–456. (1938)

References

External links

Description of the Tadpoles of Gastrophryne pictiventris and Nelsonophryne aterrima
1882 births 1960 deaths 20th-century Indian zoologists Indian herpetologists People from Coimbatore Scientists from Tamil Nadu {{zoologist-stub