James R. Dixon

James Ray Dixon (August 1, 1928, in Houston, Texas – January 10, 2015, in Bryan, Texas) was professor emeritus and curator emeritus of amphibians and reptiles at the Texas Cooperative Wildlife Collection at Texas A&M University. He lived in El Campo, Texas, throughout most of his childhood. He published prolifically on the subject of herpetology in his distinguished career, authoring and co-authoring several books, book chapters, and numerous peer reviewed notes and articles, describing two new genera, and many new species, earning him a reputation as one of the most prominent herpetologists of his generation. His main research focus was morphology based systematics of amphibians and reptiles worldwide with emphasis on Texas, US, Mexico, Central America, and South America, although bibliographies, conservation, ecology, life history and zoogeography have all been the subjects of his extensive publications.

Eponyms

A genus of lizards, ''Dixonius'' , leaf-toed geckos from Southeast Asia, was named in his honor as well as several species of reptiles and amphibians, e.g., the white-lipped peeping frog, ''Eleutherodactylus dixoni'' (= ''Eleutherodactylus albolabris'' ); Dixon's peeping frog, ''Eleutherodactylus jamesdixoni'' Devitt et al, 2023; the gray checkered whiptail, ''Cnemidophorus dixoni'' (= '' Aspidoscelis tesselatus'' ); Dixon's leaf-toed gecko, '' Phyllodactylus dixoni'' ; and the large-eyed snake, ''Thamnodynastes dixoni'' . Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Dixon", p. 73).

Education and early career

Dixon attained his Bachelor of Science from Howard Payne University (1950), and then served in the Korean War (1951–1953). Upon returning from the war, he briefly acted as Curator of Reptiles at the Ross Allen Reptile Institute from 1954 to 1955. He earned his master's degree (1957) and PhD in (1961) from Texas A&M University. He was an associate professor of veterinary medicine at Texas A&M from 1959 until 1961.

Career

From 1961 until 1965 he was an associate professor of wildlife management at New Mexico State University and served as a consultant to the New Mexico state Game and Fisheries department. He was on the faculty of the University of Southern California and from 1965 until 1967 he was Curator of Herpetology at the Life Sciences Division at the Los Angeles County Museum in California. In 1967 he returned to Texas to become a professor at Texas A&M University, teaching wildlife and fisheries science, and curator of the Texas Cooperative Wildlife Collection or TCWC (recently renamed Biodiversity Research and Teaching Collections or BRTC). Over 20 herpetologists earned Ph.D.s studying under him at Texas A&M University. He has also served as president of several herpetological and naturalist societies including The Herpetologist League, Texas Herpetological Society, Texas Academy of Science; Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Southwestern Association of Naturalists, and on the board of directors of the Texas Systems of Natural Laboratories. He has also served on the faculty of Stephen F. Austin State University and Texas State University.

New genera of reptiles described by James R. Dixon

Listed in chronological order.
*'' Crenadactylus'' – tiny Australian clawless geckos
*''Asaccus'' – Southwest Asian leaf-toed geckos

A partial list of new amphibian and reptile species described by James R. Dixon

Listed in chronological order.
*''Eleutherodactylus dilatus'' – Guerreran peeping frog
*'' Eleutherodactylus grandis'' – great peeping frog
*'' Coleonyx reticulatus'' – reticulate banded gecko
*'' Eleutherodactylus rufescens'' – red peeping frog
*'' Phyllodactylus duellmani'' – Duellman's pigmy leaf-toed gecko
*''Phyllodactylus insularis'' – Belize leaf-toed gecko
*'' Phyllodactylus paucituberculatus'' – Rio Marquez Valley gecko
*'' Ambystoma flavipiperatum'' – yellow-peppered salamander
*''Phyllodactylus davisi'' – Davis' leaf-toed gecko
*''Phyllodactylus nocticolus'' – peninsula leaf-toed gecko
*''Eleutherodactylus nivicolimae'' – Nevado de Colima chirping frog
*''Phyllodactylus angelensis'' – Angel Island leaf-toed gecko
*''Phyllodactylus apricus'' – Las Animas Island gecko
*''Phyllodactylus bugastrolepis'' – Catalina Island leaf-toed gecko
*''Phyllodactylus partidus'' – Isla Partida Norte leaf-toed gecko
*''Phyllodactylus santacruzensis'' – Santa Cruz leaf-toed gecko
*''Phyllodactylus tinklei'' – Raza Island leaf-toed gecko
*'' Phyllodactylus palmeus'' – Honduras leaf-toed gecko
*''Phyllodactylus angustidigitus'' – narrow leaf-toed gecko
*'' Phyllodactylus clinatus'' – Cerro Illescas gecko
*'' Phyllodactylus interandinus'' – Andes leaf-toed gecko
*'' Phyllodactylus johnwrighti'' – Rio Huancabamba leaf-toed gecko
*'' Phyllodactylus kofordi'' – coastal leaf-toed gecko
*'' Phyllodactylus pumilus'' – leaf-toed gecko
*'' Phyllodactylus sentosus'' – Lima leaf-toed gecko
*''Pseudogonatodes peruvianus'' – Peru clawed gecko
*''Sceloporus exsul'' – Queretaran desert spiny lizard
*'' Hypsiglena tanzeri'' – Tanzer's night snake
*''Bachia huallagana'' – Dixon's bachia
*''Asaccus griseonotus'' – gray-marked gecko
*'' Rhachisaurus brachylepis'' – Dixon's antosaura
*'' Anotosaura vanzolinia'' – Vanzolini's antosaura
*'' Helicops yacu'' – Peru keelback
*'' Bachia guianensis'' – Guyana bachia
*''Erythrolamprus pyburni'' – Pyburn's tropical forest snake
*''Typhlops minuisquamus'' – basin worm snake
*''Typhlops paucisquamus'' – Pernambuco worm snake
*''Kentropyx vanzoi'' – Gallagher's kentropyx
*''Neusticurus medemi'' – Medem's neisticurus
*''Erythrolamprus andinus'' – ground snake
*''Liotyphlops argaleus'' – ground snake
*''Erythrolamprus atraventer'' – Dixon's ground snake
*''Erythrolamprus maryellenae'' – Mary Ellen's ground snake
*''Lygophis vanzolinii'' – Vanzolini's ground snake
*'' Cnemidophorus gramivagus'' – whiptail lizard
*''Erythrolamprus ceii'' – Cei's ground snake
*'' Sceloporus chaneyi'' – Chaney's bunchgrass lizard
*''Chironius laurenti'' – Laurent's sipo
*'' Chironius septentrionalis'' – South American sipo
*''Tantilla johnsoni'' – Chiapan centipede snake
*''Erythrolamprus janaleeae'' – ground snake
*''Erythrolamprus vitti'' – Vitt's ground snake
*'' Micrurus tamaulipensis'' – Sierra de Tamaulipas coral snake
*''Lampropeltis webbi'' – Webb's kingsnake
*'' Pristimantis waoranii'' – South American rain frog

''Nota bene'': A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a different genus.

References

External links and further reading

*Altig R (2012). "Academic Lineages of Doctoral Degrees in Herpetology (third edition)". pp. 471–564. ''In'': Adler K (2012). ''Contributions to the History of Herpetology''. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles. 564 pp.
* Bailey JR, Thomas RA (2007). "A revision of the South American snake genus ''Thamnodynastes'' Wagler, 1830 (Serpentes, Colubridae, Tachymenini). II. Three new species from northern South America, with further descriptions of ''Thamnodynastes gambotensis'' Pérez-Santos and Moreno and ''Thamnodynastes ramonriveroi'' Manzanilla & Sánchez". ''Memoria de la Fundación La Salle de Ciencias Naturales'' 166: 7-27.
* Bauer AM, Good DA, Branch WR (1997). "The taxonomy of the Southern African leaf-toed geckos (Squamata: Gekkonidae), with a review of Old World "''Phyllodactylus''" and the description of five new genera". ''Proc. California Acad. Sci.'' 49 (14): 447–497.
*Beltz, Ellin (2006)
Biographies of People Honored in the Herpetological Nomenclature in North America

*Hibbitts, Toby J.; Vaughan, R. Kathryn; Sites, Jack W. Jr; Fitzgerald, Lee A. (2018). "James Ray Dixon (1928–2015)". ''Herpetological Review'' 49 (1): 168–174.
* Lynch JD (1991). "Three replacement names for preoccupied names in the genus ''Eleutherodactylus''(Amphibia: Leptodactylidae)". ''Copeia'' 1991: 1138–1139.
*
*Rivero-Blanco C, Lancini AR (1968) (1967). "Phyllodactylus dixoni: ''una nueva especie de lagarto (Sauria: Gekkoninae) de Venezuela'' ". ''Memoria de la Sociedad de Ciencias Naturales La Salle'' 78: 168−175. (in Spanish).
*Scudday JF (1973). "A New Species of Lizard of the ''Cnemidophorus tesselatus'' Group from Texas". ''Journal of Herpetology'' 7 (4): 363–371.
* Smith HM, Smith RB (1973). ''Synopsis of the Herpetofauna of Mexico, Vol. II: Analysis of the Literature Exclusive of the Mexican Axolotl''. Augusta, West Virginia: Eric Lundberg. xxxiii + 367 pp.
Texas Cooperative Wildlife Collection

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dixon, James R.
American herpetologists
1928 births
2015 deaths
American biologists
Howard Payne University alumni
Texas A&M University alumni
20th-century American zoologists
Scientists from Houston
People from El Campo, Texas