Louis Fraser (1810 – 1866) was a British

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 collector. In his early years, Fraser was curator of the Museum of the

Zoological Society of London The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) is a charity and organization devoted to the worldwide animal conservation, conservation of animals and their habitat conservation, habitats. It was founded in 1826. Since 1828, it has maintained London Zo ...

. Little is known about Fraser's early life. He was born in 1810 and married Mary Ann Harrison on 17 February 1844. A son Oscar L. Fraser worked as an assistant in the Indian Museum at Calcutta around 1888. He worked for fourteen years at the museum of the Zoological Society of London. He worked with the anatomist Richard Owen on studies of the emu and rhea. He participated in the

Niger expedition of 1841 The Niger expedition of 1841 was mounted by British missionary and activist groups in 1841–1842, using three British iron steam vessels to travel to Lokoja, at the confluence of the Niger River and Benue River, in what is now Nigeria. The Briti ...

as the

African Civilization Society The African Civilization Society (ACS) was an American Black nationalist organization founded by Henry Highland Garnet and Martin Delany in New York City to serve African Americans. Founded in 1858 in response to the 1857 US Supreme Court d ...

's scientist, with

Allen Allen, Allen's or Allens may refer to: Buildings * Allen Arena, an indoor arena at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee * Allen Center, a skyscraper complex in downtown Houston, Texas * Allen Fieldhouse, an indoor sports arena on the Univ ...

and

Thomson Thomson may refer to: Names * Thomson (surname), a list of people with this name and a description of its origin * Thomson baronets, four baronetcies created for persons with the surname Thomson Businesses and organizations * SGS-Thomson M ...

. He stayed on in Fernando Po and collected. Upon his return he became in charge of

Lord Derby Edward George Geoffrey Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby (29 March 1799 – 23 October 1869), known as Lord Stanley from 1834 to 1851, was a British statesman and Conservative politician who served three times as Prime Minister of the United K ...

's collection at

Knowsley Hall Knowsley Hall is a stately home near Liverpool in the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, Merseyside, England. It is the ancestral home of the Stanley family, the Earls of Derby. The hall is surrounded by of parkland, which contains the Knowsley S ...

. In 1846 he was sent by Lord Derby to collect in north Africa. In 1848 he became conservator at Knowsley. He wrote ''Zoologica Typica, or figures of the new and rare animals and birds in the collection of the Zoological Society of London'', a lavishly illustrated large-sized book, published in 1849. In this book he described many new species of birds. In 1850, Fraser was appointed Consul of Quidah, Dahomey (now Benin), West Africa. Around 1857–1859, he collected birds and mammals in Ecuador for

Philip Lutley Sclater Philip Lutley Sclater (4 November 1829 – 27 June 1913) was an English lawyer and zoologist. In zoology, he was an expert ornithologist, and identified the main zoogeographic regions of the world. He was Secretary of the Zoological Society ...

of the Zoological Society of London, and the year after in California. Upon his return to London, he opened a shop in Regent Street, London, selling exotic birds. The last years of his life he spent in America. Fraser wrote a ''Catalogue of the Knowsley Collections'' (1850) and described several new species including the Derbyan parakeet ''Psittacula derbiana'' named after his employer. A number of species and subspecies have been named in his honour, including Fraser's anole ('' Anolis fraseri)'', Fraser's ground snake ('' Liophis epinephelus fraseri)'', a centipede snake (''Tantilla fraseri'', a synonym of ''

Tantilla melanocephala ''Tantilla melanocephala'', commonly known as the black-headed snake, the neotropical black-headed snake, and ''la culebra de cabeza negra'' in Spanish, is a small species of snake in the subfamily Colubrinae of the family Colubridae. The spec ...

)'',

Fraser's eagle-owl Fraser's eagle-owl (''Ketupa poensis'') is a species of African owl in the family Strigidae. It is named after the British zoologist Louis Fraser. Taxonomy Fraser's eagle-owl was formally described in 1854 by British zoologist and collector Louis ...

(''Bubo poensis''), Fraser's warbler (''Myiothlypis fraseri)'', and

Fraser's musk shrew Fraser's musk shrew (''Crocidura poensis'') is a species of mammal in the family Soricidae. It is found in Benin, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, São Tomé and Príncipe, Sierra Leone, and Togo. Its na ...

(''Crocidura poensis''). Died at age 56.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fraser, Louis 1819 births 1866 deaths British zoologists Taxon authorities Zoological collectors British ornithologists British expatriates in Nigeria British expatriates in Benin British emigrants to the United States