Eugene William Oates (31 December 184516 November 1911) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

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 ...

and a civil engineer who worked on road projects in Burma. Oates was born in

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

and educated in

Bath, England Bath ( RP: , ) is a city in Somerset, England, known for and named after its Roman-built baths. At the 2021 census, the population was 94,092. Bath is in the valley of the River Avon, west of London and southeast of Bristol. The city becam ...

. For a time he attended Sydney College, Bath and later under private tutors. He was a civil servant in the Public Works Department in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

from 1867 to 1899. He retired to England, where he compiled a catalogue of the birds' eggs in the

Natural History Museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history scientific collection, collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, Fungus, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleo ...

, and served as secretary of the

British Ornithologists' Union The British Ornithologists' Union (BOU) aims to encourage the study of birds (ornithology) around the world in order to understand their biology and aid their conservation. The BOU was founded in 1858 by Professor Alfred Newton, Henry Baker ...

from 1898 to 1901. He died in

Edgbaston Edgbaston () is a suburb of Birmingham, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It lies immediately south-west of Birmingham city centre, and was historically in Warwickshire. The Ward (electoral subdivision), wards of Edgbaston and Nort ...

. 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), ...

of Indian snake, '' Typhlops oatesii'',Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Oates, E.W.", p. 193). a Burmese frog, ''

Humerana oatesii ''Humerana oatesii'' is a species of frog in the family Ranidae. It is 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; or ...

'', and seven species of birds are named in his honor.

Publications

*Oates, E.W. (1883). ''A handbook to the birds of British Burmah including those found in the adjoining state of Karennee.'' Vol II. London: R.H. Porter. *Oates, E.W. (1888). "On the Indian and Burmese Scorpions of the Genus ''Isometrus'', with Description of Three new Species". ''

Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society The ''Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society'' (also ''JBNHS'') is a natural history journal published several times a year by the Bombay Natural History Society. First published in January 1886, and published with only a few interruption ...

'' 3: 244–250. *Oates, E.W. (1889-1890). ''

The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma ''The Fauna of British India'' (short title) with long titles including ''The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma'', and ''The Fauna of British India Including the Remainder of the Oriental Region'' is a series of scientific books t ...

. Birds.—Vol. I & II.'' London: Secretary of State for India in Council. (Taylor & Francis, printers). *Oates, E.W. (1899). ''A manual of the Game Birds of India.'' Vol. II, p. 139-146. Bombay: Cambridge.

References

External links

* * 1845 births 1911 deaths British ornithologists {{UK-ornithologist-stub