James Donald Anderson, Jr. (August 16, 1930 – November 20, 1976) was an American

herpetologist Herpetology (from Ancient Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is a branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, salamanders, and caecilians (Gymnophiona)) and reptiles (in ...

with the

American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Located in Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 21 interconn ...

and professor of zoology at

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

who did extensive fieldwork studying '' Ambystoma'' and other

salamander Salamanders are a group of amphibians typically characterized by their lizard-like appearance, with slender bodies, blunt snouts, short limbs projecting at right angles to the body, and the presence of a tail in both larvae and adults. All t ...

species in Mexico. He was born in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...

, on August 16, 1930, and grew up in the nearby town of Belleville. He attended the

Rutgers University–Newark Rutgers University–Newark is one of three regional campuses of Rutgers University, a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. It is located in Newark, New Jersey, Newark. Rutgers, fo ...

College of Arts and Sciences and earned a B.A. in zoology in 1954. From 1954 to 1960 he was a graduate student at

UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkele ...

, working under

Robert C. Stebbins Robert Cyril Stebbins (March 31, 1915 – September 23, 2013) was an American herpetologist and illustrator known for his field guides and popular books as well as his studies of reptiles and amphibians. His ''Field Guide to Western Reptiles and ...

. Anderson returned to Rutgers University–Newark as a faculty member in 1960, and died from injuries sustained in a car accident on November 20, 1976.

Anderson's salamander Anderson's salamander (''Ambystoma andersoni'') is a neoteny, neotenic salamander from Zacapu Lagoon in the Mexican state of Michoacán. This salamander is a relatively recent discovery, first described by Branden and Krebs in 1984. ''Ambystoma ...

(''Ambystoma andersoni'' ) is named after him. He published 150 peer-reviewed papers. His two most cited papers are: *"A Comparison of the Food Habits of ''Ambystoma macrodactylum sigillatum'', ''Ambystoma macrodactylum croceum'', and ''Ambystoma tigrinum californiense''". ''Herpetologica'' 24 (4) (Dec., 1968): 273–284. (cited 55 times according to Google Scholar); *"The Life History of the Mexican Salamander ''Ambystoma ordinarium'' Taylor". (with Richard D. Worthington). ''Herpetologica'' 27 (2) (Jun., 1971): 165–176. (cited 43 times according to Google Scholar).

References

American herpetologists 1930 births 1976 deaths Rutgers University faculty University of California, Berkeley alumni Rutgers University alumni Scientists from Newark, New Jersey 20th-century American zoologists {{US-zoologist-stub