Jean René Constant Quoy (10 November 1790 in Maillé – 4 July 1869 in

Rochefort Rochefort () may refer to: Places France * Rochefort, Charente-Maritime, in the Charente-Maritime department ** Arsenal de Rochefort, a former naval base and dockyard * Rochefort, Savoie in the Savoie department * Rochefort-du-Gard, in the G ...

) was a French

naval surgeon A naval surgeon, or less commonly ship's doctor, is the person responsible for the health of the ship's company aboard a warship. The term appears often in reference to Royal Navy's medical personnel during the Age of Sail. Ancient uses Specialis ...

zoologist Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoology is one ...

and

anatomist Anatomy () is the branch of morphology concerned with the study of the internal structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old scien ...

. In 1806, he began his medical studies at the school of naval medicine at

, afterwards serving as an auxiliary-surgeon on a trip to the

Antilles The Antilles is an archipelago bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the south and west, the Gulf of Mexico to the northwest, and the Atlantic Ocean to the north and east. The Antillean islands are divided into two smaller groupings: the Greater An ...

(1808–1809). After earning his medical doctorate in 1814 at

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

, he was surgeon-major on a journey to

Réunion Réunion (; ; ; known as before 1848) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France. Part of the Mascarene Islands, it is located approximately east of the isl ...

(1814–1815). Along with

Joseph Paul Gaimard Joseph Paul Gaimard (31 January 1793 – 10 December 1858) was a French naval surgeon and naturalist. Biography Gaimard was born at Saint-Zacharie on January 31, 1793. He studied medicine at the naval medical school in Toulon, subsequen ...

, he served as

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 surgeon aboard the ''Uranie'' under

Louis de Freycinet Louis Claude de Saulces de Freycinet (7 August 1779 – 18 August 1841) was a French Navy officer. He circumnavigated the Earth, and in 1811 published the first map to show a full outline of the coastline of Australia. Biography He was born at M ...

from 1817 to 1820, and on the ''

Astrolabe An astrolabe (; ; ) is an astronomy, astronomical list of astronomical instruments, instrument dating to ancient times. It serves as a star chart and Model#Physical model, physical model of the visible celestial sphere, half-dome of the sky. It ...

'' (1826–1829) under the command of

Jules Dumont d'Urville Jules Sébastien César Dumont d'Urville (; 23 May 1790 – 8 May 1842) was a French List of explorers, explorer and French Navy, naval officer who explored the south and western Pacific, Australia, New Zealand and Antarctica. As a botanist an ...

. In July 1823 he and Gaimard presented a paper to the Académie royale des Sciences on the origin of coral reefs, taking issue with the then widespread belief that these were constructed by coral polyps from bases in very deep water and arguing instead that the original bases must have been in shallow water because reef-building polyps were confined to water depths of just a few tens of metres. Their work was quoted by

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

in his seminal monograph on the origin on reefs and atolls. While on the ''Astrolabe'' expedition Quoy and Gaimard collected and described ''

Tachygia microlepis The Tonga ground skink (''Tachygyia microlepis'') is an extinct species of skink endemic to the island of Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of ...

'', the now extinct giant

skink Skinks are a type of lizard belonging to the family (biology), family Scincidae, a family in the Taxonomic rank, infraorder Scincomorpha. With more than 1,500 described species across 100 different taxonomic genera, the family Scincidae is one o ...

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

. Along with his skills as a naturalist, Quoy was acclaimed for his work as an artist.Data Fisheries
Jean René Constant Quoy, Dr In 1824, he was appointed professor of anatomy at the Rochefort Naval School, where from 1832 to 1835, he was a professor of medicine. He then continued his career at naval hospitals in

Toulon Toulon (, , ; , , ) is a city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the French Riviera and the historical Provence, it is the prefecture of the Var (department), Var department. The Commune of Toulon h ...

(1835–1837) and in Brest (1838–1848), afterwards being chosen inspector general of the Naval Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (serving from 1848 to 1858).

Taxonomy

The following

genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

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), ...

were named in his honor: *''

Cracticus quoyi ''Cracticus'' is a genus of butcherbirds native to Australasia. They are large songbirds, being between in length. Their colour ranges from black-and-white to mostly black with added grey plumage, depending on the species. They have a large, st ...

'' – the

black butcherbird The black butcherbird (''Melloria quoyi'', also known as ''Cracticus quoyi'') is a species of butcherbird in the family Artamidae. It is found in Australia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry fo ...

*'' Quoya'' – a genus of

sea slug Sea slug is a common name for some Marine biology, marine invertebrates with varying levels of resemblance to terrestrial Slug, slugs. Most creatures known as sea slugs are gastropods, i.e. they are Sea snail, sea snails (marine gastropod moll ...

s *'' Quoyia'' – a genus of extinct marine gastropods *''

Terebra quoygaimardi ''Terebra quoygaimardi'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Terebridae The Terebridae, commonly referred to as auger shells or auger snails, is a Family (biology), family of predatory marine (ocean), marine ga ...

'' – a species of

sea snail Sea snails are slow-moving marine (ocean), marine gastropod Mollusca, molluscs, usually with visible external shells, such as whelk or abalone. They share the Taxonomic classification, taxonomic class Gastropoda with slugs, which are distinguishe ...

*'' Pilumnus quoyi'' – a species of crab *'' Ischnochiton quoyanus'' – a species of

chiton Chitons () are marine molluscs of varying size in the class Polyplacophora ( ), formerly known as Amphineura. About 940 extant and 430 fossil species are recognized. They are also sometimes known as sea cradles or coat-of-mail shells or suck ...

*''

Eulamprus quoyii ''Eulamprus quoyii'', more commonly known as the eastern water skink, eastern water-skink, or golden water skink, is a viviparous species of Diurnality, diurnal skink. ''Eulamprus quoyii'' belongs to the family Scincidae and is considered a commo ...

'' – a species of

*'' Quoya'' – a genus of Australian plants

Writings

*''Voyage autour du monde … pendant les années 1817, 1818, 1819 et 1820''. (with Louis Claude Desaulses de Freycinet, Joseph Paul Gaimard,

Charles Gaudichaud-Beaupré Charles Gaudichaud-Beaupré (September 4, 1789 – January 16, 1854) was a French botanist. Biography Gaudichaud was born in Angoulême, to J-J. Gaudichaud and Rose (Mallat) Gaudichaud. He studied pharmacology informally at Cognac and Angoulême, ...

, et al.). *''Voyage de la corvette l'Astrolabe exécuté par ordre du Roi, pendant les années 1826-1827-1828-1829 sous le commandement de M. J. Dumont d'Urville''. (with Jules-Sébastien-César Dumont d'Urville, J Tastu and Joseph Paul Gaimard).WorldCat Title
''Voyage de la corvette l'Astrolabe''. (in French).

Sources

* Mearns, Barbara; Mearns, Richard (1998). ''The Bird Collectors''. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Academic Press. pp. 472. .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quoy, Jean Rene Constant French ornithologists French zoologists People from Vendée French military doctors Members of the French Academy of Sciences Teuthologists 1790 births 1869 deaths Commanders of the Legion of Honour Conchologists Naval surgeons

Taxonomy

Writings

Sources

See also

References