Paul Chabanaud (30 November 1876, in

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...

– 27 February 1959) was a French

ichthyologist 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 ...

and

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 ...

. Beginning in 1915, he worked as a volunteer under

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 ...

Louis Roule Louis Roule (; 20 December 1861 – 30 July 1942) was a French zoologist born in Marseille. In 1881 he obtained a degree in natural sciences at Marseille, followed by his doctorate of sciences (1884) at Paris with a thesis on ascidians of coasta ...

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 ...

'' in

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 ...

. In 1919–1920, he undertook a scientific expedition to

French West Africa French West Africa (, ) was a federation of eight French colonial empires#Second French colonial empire, French colonial territories in West Africa: Colonial Mauritania, Mauritania, French Senegal, Senegal, French Sudan (now Mali), French Guin ...

(

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

Guinea Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...

) on behalf of the museum, during which he collected thousands of zoological specimens. Following his return to Paris, he served as a preparator in the laboratory of biologist

Jean Abel Gruvel Jean Abel Gruvel (14 February 1870 in Le Fleix – 18 August 1941 in Dinard) was a French marine biologist known for his research of cirripedes. Biography In 1894 he obtained his doctorate in sciences, and later taught classes in zoology fo ...

at the museum. He specialized in the

anatomy 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 ...

and

systematics Systematics is the study of the diversification of living forms, both past and present, and the relationships among living things through time. Relationships are visualized as evolutionary trees (synonyms: phylogenetic trees, phylogenies). Phy ...

of the

flatfish A flatfish is a member of the Ray-finned fish, ray-finned demersal fish Order (biology), suborder Pleuronectoidei, also called the Heterosomata. In many species, both eyes lie on one side of the head, one or the other migrating through or around ...

(order

Pleuronectiformes A flatfish is a member of the ray-finned demersal fish suborder Pleuronectoidei, also called the Heterosomata. In many species, both eyes lie on one side of the head, one or the other migrating through or around the head during development. Som ...

) and was the

taxonomic authority In biology, taxonomy () is the scientific study of naming, defining ( circumscribing) and classifying groups of biological organisms based on shared characteristics. Organisms are grouped into taxa (singular: taxon), and these groups are given ...

of many herpetological and ichthyological species.The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles
by Bo Beolens, Michael Watkins, Michael Grayson

Eponymy

The

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 ...

genus '' Chabanaudia'' is named after him, being circumscribed by Gaston-François de Witte and Raymond Ferdinand Laurent in 1943. His name is also associated with numerous zoological species, including: * The catfish species, '' Atopochilus chabanaudi'', circumscribed by

Jacques Pellegrin Jacques Pellegrin (12 June 1873 – 12 August 1944) was a French zoology, zoologist. Biography Pellegrin was born in Paris on 12 June 1873. He worked under zoologist Léon Vaillant (chair of reptiles and fishes) at the ''Muséum national d'hi ...

in 1938. * Chabanaud's fringe-fingered lizard, ''Acanthodactylus boueti'', described by Chabanaud in 1917. * Chabanaud's mabuya, ''Trachylepis breviparietalis'', described by Chabanaud in 1917. * The reed frog species, '' Hyperolius chabanaudi'' (synonym '' Hyperolius phantasticus''), circumscribed by

Ernst Ahl Christoph Gustav Ernst Ahl (1 September 1898 – 14 February 1945) was a German zoologist, born in Berlin. He was the director of the department of ichthyology and herpetology in the Museum für Naturkunde. He was also the editor in chief of th ...

in 1931.

Selected works

* ''Reptiles et batraciens'', 1922. * ''Les soles de l'Atlantique Oriental Nord et des mers adjacentes'', 1927. * ''Observations morphologiques et remarques sur la systématique des poissons hétérosomes soléiformes'', 1927. * ''Les genres de poissons Hétérosomates'', 1930. * ''Poissons hétérosomes'', 1933. * ''Le neurocrâne osseux des téléostéens dyssymétriques après la métamorphose'', 1936. * ''Les téléostéens dyssymétriques du Mokattam inférieur de Tourah'', 1937. * ''Contribution à la morphologie et à la systématique des Téléostéens dyssymétriques'', 1938. * ''Contribution à la morphologie du tube digestif des téléostéens dyssymétriques'', 1947.OCLC Classify
(published works)

Taxa described by him

*See :Taxa named by Paul Chabanaud

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chabanaud, Paul 1876 births 1959 deaths Scientists from Versailles French herpetologists French ichthyologists National Museum of Natural History (France) people