R. C. Wroughton
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Robert Charles Wroughton (15 August 1849, in Naseerabad – 15 May 1921) was an officer in the
Indian Forest Service The Indian Forest Service (IFS) is the premier forest service of India. .The IFS is one of the three All India Services along with the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) & the Indian Police Service (IPS). It was constituted in the year 1966 un ...
from 10 December 1871 to 1904. Trained in forestry in France, he joined the Indian Forest Service in the Bombay Presidency and rose to become Inspector-General of Forests for India until his retirement in 1904.


Life and work

Wroughton was the son of Major-General R. C. Wroughton. Educated at Bedford School and King’s College, London he studied forestry at the L’Ecole Forestiere, Nancy, France, he was appointed to the Indian Forest service on Dec. 10th, 1871, as Assistant Conservator of Forests in the Bombay Presidency. He was a member of the
Bombay Natural History Society The Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), founded on 15 September 1883, is one of the largest non-governmental organisations in India engaged in conservation and biodiversity research. It supports many research efforts through grants and publ ...
(BNHS) and was interested in
Hymenoptera Hymenoptera is a large order of insects, comprising the sawflies, wasps, bees, and ants. Over 150,000 living species of Hymenoptera have been described, in addition to over 2,000 extinct ones. Many of the species are parasitic. Females typi ...
, particularly
ants Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cretaceous period. More than 13,800 of an estimated total of ...
(in collaboration with A. Forel) and then later took an interest in
scorpion Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the Order (biology), order Scorpiones. They have eight legs and are easily recognized by a pair of Chela (organ), grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward cur ...
s due to his interaction with
Reginald Innes Pocock Reginald Innes Pocock, (4 March 1863 – 9 August 1947) was a British zoologist. Pocock was born in Clifton, Bristol, the fourth son of Rev. Nicholas Pocock and Edith Prichard. He began showing interest in natural history at St. Edward's ...
. He rose to the rank of Inspector General of Forests and retired in 1904. His major work was on the
mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...
s of India and after his retirement in 1904, became a regular worker at the
Natural History Museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history scientific collection, collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, Fungus, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleo ...
in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
. He initially took an interest in
Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
n mammals and there was little material from
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
. He persuaded his friends in India to collect specimens and this led to a collaborative mammal survey in 1911. Interest in small mammals was also raised by work on plague particularly due to the work of Captain Glen Liston who delivered a special address to the members of the BNHS. Collectors for the small mammal survey included C. A. Crump (Khandesh, Darjeeling), Sir Ernest Hotson (Baluchistan), R. Shunkara Narayan Pillay (Travancore), J. M. D. Mackenzie (Burma), Captain Philip Gosse (Poona, Nilgiris), S. H. Prater (Satara), Charles McCann and others and the survey went on until 1923. It is believed to be the first collaborative biodiversity study in the world. The project accumulated 50,000 specimens over 12 years, especially of the smaller mammals and the information was published in 47 papers. Wroughton was also helped by his brother-in-law T. B. Fry who continued to work after his death in 1921.Kinnear, N. B. (1951) The history of Indian Mammalogy and Ornithology. Part 1. JBNHS 50:766-778 Several new species were discovered in the process. Wroughton married Mary, daughter of Captain Freeman of the Indian Navy, in 1877. Numerous species are named after him including * Wroughton's Free-tailed Bat ('' Otomops wroughtoni'') * Many ant species: (''Aenictus wroughtonii'', ''Camponotus wroughtonii'', ''Cardiocondyla wroughtonii'', ''Carebara wroughtonii'', ''Chronoxenus wroughtonii'', ''Crematogaster wroughtonii'', ''Hypoponera confinis wroughtonii'', ''Lepisiota rothneyi wroughtonii'', ''Monomorium wroughtoni'', ''Monomorium wroughtonianum'', ''Pheidole wroughtonii'', ''Platythrea wroughtonii'', ''Polyrhachis wroughtonii'', ''Rhoptromyrmex wroughtonii'', ''Tapinoma wroughtonii'', ''Temnothorax wroughtonii'')


Publications

# Wroughton R C 1912a. Bombay Natural History Society's Mammal Survey of India: Report 1. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 21(2):392-410. # Wroughton R C 1912b. Bombay Natural History Society's Mammal Survey of India: Report 2. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 21(3):820-825. # Wroughton R C 1912c. Bombay Natural History Society's Mammal Survey of India: Report 3. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 21(3):826-844. # Wroughton R C 1912d. Bombay Natural History Society's Mammal Survey of India: Report 4. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 21(3):844-851. # Wroughton R C 1912e. Bombay Natural History Society's Mammal Survey of India: Report 5. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 21(4):1170-1195. # Wroughton R C and K V Ryley 1913a. Bombay Natural History Society's Mammal Survey of India: Report 6. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 22(1): 29-44. # Wroughton R C and K V Ryley 1913b. Bombay Natural History Society's Mammal Survey of India: Report 7. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 22(1): 45-47. # Wroughton R C and K V Ryley 1913c. Bombay Natural History Society's Mammal Survey of India: Report 8. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 22(1): 58-66. # Wroughton R C. 1913. Scientific results from the mammal survey # III. J. Bombay Nat. Hist Soc. 22(1): 13-21. # Wroughton R C 1914. Bombay Natural History Society's Mammal Survey of India: Report 15. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 23(2):282-301. # Wroughton R C 1915a. Bombay Natural History Society's Mammal Survey of India: Report 16. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 23(3):413-416. # Wroughton R C 1915b. Bombay Natural History Society's Mammal Survey of India: Report 17. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 23(4):695-720. # Wroughton R C. 1915c. Scientific results from the mammal survey # XI. J. Bombay Nat. Hist Soc. 24(1): 29-65. # Wroughton R C 1915d. Bombay Natural History Society's Mammal Survey of India: Report 18. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 24(1):79-96. # Wroughton R C 1915e. Bombay Natural History Society's Mammal Survey of India: Report 19. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 24(1):96-110. # Wroughton R C 1916a. Bombay Natural History Society's Mammal Survey of India: Report 20. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 24(2):291-309. # Wroughton R C 1916b. Bombay Natural History Society's Mammal Survey of India:Report 21. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 24(2):309-310. # Wroughton R C 1916c. Bombay Natural History Society's Mammal Survey of India:Report 22. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 24(2):311-316. # Wroughton R C 1916d. Bombay Natural History Society's Mammal Survey of India:Report 23. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 24(3):468-493. # Wroughton R C 1916e. Bombay Natural History Society's Mammal Survey of India: Report 24. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 24(4):749-758. # Wroughton R C 1916f. Bombay Natural History Society's Mammal Survey of India:Report 25. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 24(4):758-773. # Wroughton R C 1916g. Bombay Natural History Society's Mammal Survey of India: Report 26. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 24(4):773-782. # Wroughton R C. 1917a. Scientific results from the mammal survey # XV. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 25(1): 40-51 # Wroughton R C 1917b. Bombay Natural History Society's Mammal Survey of India: Report 27. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 25(1):63-71. # Wroughton R C 1917c. Bombay Natural History Society's Mammal Survey of India: Report 28. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 25(2):274-278. # Wroughton R C. 1918a. Scientific results from the mammal survey # XVII. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 25(3): 361. # Wroughton R C 1918b. Summary of the results from the Indian mammal survey of Bombay natural History Society, Part I. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 25(4): 547-598. # Wroughton R C 1918c. Summary of the results from the Indian mammal survey of Bombay natural History Society, Part II. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 26(1): 19-58. # Wroughton R C 1919. Summary of the results from the Indian mammal survey of Bombay natural History Society, Part III. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 26(2): 338-378. # Wroughton R C 1920a. Summary of the results from the Indian mammal survey of Bombay natural History Society, Part VI. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 27(1): 57-85. # Wroughton R C 1920b. Summary of the results from the Indian mammal survey of Bombay natural History Society, PartVII. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 27(2): 301-313. # Wroughton R C 1920c. Bombay Natural History Society's Mammal Survey of India: Report 32.J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 27(2):314-322. # Wroughton R C 1921a. Summary of the results from the Indian mammal survey of Bombay natural History Society, Appendix. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 27(3):520-534. # Wroughton R C 1921b. Bombay Natural History Society's Mammal Survey of India: Report 33. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 27(3):545-549. # Wroughton R C 1921c. Bombay Natural History Society's Mammal Survey of India: Report 34. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 27(3):549-553. # Wroughton R C 1921d. Bombay Natural History Society's Mammal Survey of India: Report 35. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 27(3):553-554. # Wroughton R C. 1921e. Scientific results from the mammal survey # XXVI. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 27(3): 599-601. # Wroughton R C. 1921f. Scientific results from the mammal survey # XXVIII. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 27(4): 773-777. # Wroughton R C. 1921g. Scientific results from the mammal survey # XXIX. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 28(1): 23-25


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wroughton, Robert Charles Naturalists from British India 1849 births 1921 deaths Imperial Forestry Service officers Members of the Bombay Natural History Society