Louis Roule (; 20 December 1861 – 30 July 1942) was a French

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 ...

born in

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

. In 1881 he obtained a degree in

natural sciences Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...

at Marseille, followed by his doctorate of sciences (1884) at

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

with a thesis on ascidians of coastal

Provence Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterrane ...

. From 1885 he worked as a lecturer at the faculty of sciences in

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

, where in 1892 he became a professor. During the previous year (1891), he earned a doctorate in medicine. In 1910 he succeeded

Léon Vaillant Léon Louis Vaillant (; 11 November 1834 – 24 November 1914) was a French zoology, zoologist. He is most famous for his work in the areas of herpetology, malacology, and ichthyology. In 1854 he graduated from the Arras College, College d'Ar ...

(1834–1914) as chair of

zoology Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...

(reptiles and fish) at the

Muséum national d'histoire naturelle The French National Museum of Natural History ( ; abbr. MNHN) is the national natural history museum of France and a of higher education part of Sorbonne University. The main museum, with four galleries, is located in Paris, France, within the Ja ...

, a position he would hold until 1937. During this time period he was also an instructor at the Institut National Agronomique (from 1925), and director of the laboratory of

ichthyology Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish (Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha). According to FishBase, 35,800 species of fish had been described as of March 2 ...

at the

École pratique des hautes études The (), abbreviated EPHE, is a French postgraduate top level educational institution, a . EPHE is a constituent college of the Université PSL (together with ENS Ulm, Paris Dauphine or Ecole des Mines). The college is closely linked to É ...

(EPHE).

Works

Roule's early research dealt largely with

invertebrates Invertebrates are animals that neither develop nor retain a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''spine'' or ''backbone''), which evolved from the notochord. It is a paraphyletic grouping including all animals excluding the chordate subphylum ...

. Later his focus turned to ichthyology, of which he had the opportunity to take inventory of large collections of marine specimens. He analyzed collections gathered from

Prince Albert I of Monaco Albert I (Albert Honoré Charles Grimaldi; 13 November 1848 – 26 June 1922) was Prince of Monaco from 10 September 1889 until his death in 1922. He devoted much of his life to oceanography, exploration and science. Alongside his expeditions, ...

, as well as specimens obtained from the Antarctic expeditions of

Jean-Baptiste Charcot Jean-Baptiste Étienne Auguste Charcot, better known in France as Commandant Charcot, (15 July 1867 in Neuilly-sur-Seine near Paris – 16 September 1936 at sea (30 miles north-west of Reykjavik, Iceland), was a French scientist, medical doctor ...

(1867–1936). Roule was the first scientist to describe '' Grimaldichthys profundissimus'', a fish species found at a depth of over six kilometers. He had an avid interest in the work of French

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 ...

s of previous generations, publishing books on Buffon, Daubenton,

Lamarck Jean-Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet, chevalier de Lamarck (1 August 1744 – 18 December 1829), often known simply as Lamarck (; ), was a French naturalist, biologist, academic, and soldier. He was an early proponent of the idea that biolo ...

and

Cuvier Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric, baron Cuvier (23 August 1769 – 13 May 1832), known as Georges Cuvier (; ), was a French natural history, naturalist and zoology, zoologist, sometimes referred to as the "founding father of paleontology". Cuv ...

. Roule was also the author of well regarded works in the fields of

embryology Embryology (from Ancient Greek, Greek ἔμβρυον, ''embryon'', "the unborn, embryo"; and -λογία, ''-logy, -logia'') is the branch of animal biology that studies the Prenatal development (biology), prenatal development of gametes (sex ...

and

comparative anatomy Comparative anatomy is the study of similarities and differences in the anatomy of different species. It is closely related to evolutionary biology and phylogeny (the evolution of species). The science began in the classical era, continuing in t ...

Descriptions

*See :Taxa named by Louis Roule

Legacy

Two

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 reptiles are named in his honor: *'' Atractus roulei'' and *''

Isopachys roulei ''Isopachys roulei'', also known as the Chonburi snake skink, is a species of limbless skink. It is endemic to Thailand and known from Chonburi Chonburi (, , IAST: , ) is the capital of Chonburi Province and, as part of the district Mueang Ch ...

''.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Roule", p. 227). *A fish genus of Slickheads, ''

Rouleina ''Rouleina'' is a genus of slickheads. The genus is named for the ichthyologist Louis Roule. Species There are currently 10 recognized species in this genus: * '' Rouleina attrita'' ( Vaillant, 1888) (Softskin smooth-head) * '' Rouleina danae' ...

'' is named after him. *A species of Goby '' Gobius roulei'', Roule's goby is named after him.

Selected writings

*''Recherches sur les Ascidies simple des cotes de Provence, Phallusiadées'', 1884 – Research on simple ascidians of coastal

Phallusia ''Phallusia'' is a genus of tunicates of the family Ascidiidae, which includes the following species: *''Phallusia aperta'' (Sluiter, 1904) *''Phallusia arabica'' Savigny, 1816 *''Phallusia barbarica'' Kott, 1985 *''Phallusia colleta'' (C. Monni ...

. *''L'embryologie générale'', 1893 – General

. *''L' anatomie comparée des animaux basée sur l'embryologie'', 1898 –

Comparative anatomy Comparative anatomy is the study of similarities and differences in the anatomy of different species. It is closely related to evolutionary biology and phylogeny (the evolution of species). The science began in the classical era, continuing in t ...

of animals based on embryology. *''Buffon et la description de la nature'', 1924 *''Daubenton et l'exploitation de la nature'', 1925 *''Les poissons et le monde vivant des eaux'', 1926 *''Lamarck et l'interprétation de la nature'', 1927 *''Les poissons apodes appartenant au sous-ordre des nemichthydiformes'', 1929 – Treatise on

Nemichthyidae Snipe eels are a family, Nemichthyidae, of eels that consists of nine species in three genera. They are pelagic fishes, found in every ocean, mostly at depths of but sometimes as deep as . Depending on the species, adults may reach in length, y ...

. *''La structure et la biologie des poissons'', 1930 – Structure and biology of fish. *''Fishes, their journeys and migrations'', 1933 (translated from the French by Conrad Elphinstone). *''Fishes and their ways of life'', 1935 (translated from the French by Conrad Elphinstone).

References

Open Library
(list of publications)
Kmae-journal Professor Louis Roule

External links