Edgar Alexander Mearns (September 11, 1856 – November 1, 1916) was an American

surgeon In medicine, a surgeon is a medical doctor who performs surgery. Even though there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon is a licensed physician and received the same medical training as physicians before spec ...

ornithologist Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is a branch of zoology dedicated to the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related discip ...

and field

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

. He was a founder of the

American Ornithologists' Union The American Ornithological Society (AOS) is an ornithological organization based in the United States. The society was formed in October 2016 by the merger of the American Ornithologists' Union (AOU) and the Cooper Ornithological Society. Its ...

Life

Mearns was born in

Highland Falls, New York Highland Falls, formerly named Buttermilk Falls, is a village in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 3,684 at the 2020 census. The village was founded in 1906. It is part of the Kiryas Joel– Poughkeepsie– Newbu ...

, to Alexander and Nancy Reliance Mearns (née Clarswell). His grandfather Alexander was of Scottish origin and moved to Highland Falls in 1815. Edgar Mearns was educated at the Donald Highland Institute (Highland Falls). He attended the Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons, graduating in 1881. In 1881, he married Ella Wittich of

Circleville, Ohio Circleville is a city in Pickaway County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. The city is situated along the Scioto River 25 miles (40 km) south of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus. The population was 13,927 at the 2020 United States census, 2 ...

. The couple had one son and one daughter. Their son was born in 1886 and died in 1912. Mearns became a doctor in the U.S. Army. From 1882 to 1899 he served the military as a surgeon. From 1899 to 1903, he was a medical officer in several army institutions. From 1903 to 1904 and from 1905 to 1907, he traveled to the Philippines; he had to interrupt his journey in 1904 because he came down with a parasitic disease. In 1905 a trip led him to

Guam Guam ( ; ) is an island that is an Territories of the United States, organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. Guam's capital is Hagåtña, Guam, Hagåtña, and the most ...

. As major and surgeon in the army, Mearns was appointed medical officer to the International Boundary Commission; he reported on the fauna and trees of the boundary between

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 ...

and the United States in his 1907 ''Mammals of the Mexican Boundary of the United States''. In 1909 he retired from the army with a rank of a lieutenant colonel. Later that year

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...

invited Mearns to accompany the Smithsonian-Roosevelt African Expedition as naturalist. From 1911 to 1912 he was a member of the Childs Frick expedition in Africa to collect and prepare specimens of birds that Frick later presented to the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

. Mearns co-founded the

in 1883. He scientifically described several birds and other animal

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), ...

, like the Taita thrush, the Apo sunbird, the Boran cisticola, the Chihuahuan grasshopper mouse, and the rufous-headed tailorbird. He died in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, at the age of 60.

Eponyms

Several animal

taxa In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; : taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular name and ...

are named in honor of Mearns: five birds; seven mammals, including Mearns's pocket gopher (''Thomomys bottae mearnsi''); and '' Petrosaurus mearnsi''. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ("Mearns", p. 174).

References

External links

Zoonomen.net: Short biography of Edgar Alexander MearnsSmithsonian Institution Archives.edu: Edgar Alexander Mearns Papers, circa 1871-1916, 1934 and undated
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mearns, Edgar Alexander American ornithologists 1856 births 1916 deaths American people of Scottish descent 19th-century American zoologists 20th-century American zoologists