John Paul Richard Thomas (born 1938) is an American

taxonomist In biology, taxonomy () is the science, scientific study of naming, defining (Circumscription (taxonomy), circumscribing) and classifying groups of biological organisms based on shared characteristics. Organisms are grouped into taxon, taxa (si ...

and systematist, and retired professor of

herpetology 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 ...

and

evolution Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...

at University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras (

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan ( , ; Spanish for "Saint John the Baptist, John") is the capital city and most populous Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in the Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the ...

). (Kindle edition). (hardcover). He described several species new to science, mostly

amphibian Amphibians are ectothermic, anamniote, anamniotic, tetrapod, four-limbed vertebrate animals that constitute the class (biology), class Amphibia. In its broadest sense, it is a paraphyletic group encompassing all Tetrapod, tetrapods, but excl ...

s and

reptile Reptiles, as commonly defined, are a group of tetrapods with an ectothermic metabolism and Amniotic egg, amniotic development. Living traditional reptiles comprise four Order (biology), orders: Testudines, Crocodilia, Squamata, and Rhynchocepha ...

s, from throughout the

Caribbean islands Most of the Caribbean countries are islands in the Caribbean Sea, with only a few in inland lakes. The largest islands include Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica and Puerto Rico. Some of the smaller islands are referred to as a ''rock'' or ''reef.'' ''I ...

including the

common coquí The common coquí, widely known as the coquí (''Eleutherodactylus coqui''), is a species of frog Native_species, native to Puerto Rico belonging to the family Eleutherodactylidae. The species is named for the loud call the males make at night, w ...

(''Eleutherodactlys coqui)'', the national animal of

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

Early life and education

Thomas was born in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

, USA, on May 2, 1938. At the

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, Tampa, Florida, United States, and other campuses in St. Petersburg, Florida, St. Petersburg and Sarasota, ...

, Thomas graduated as a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in 1969. Later, he went to

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

and obtained a PhD in 1976.

Research

Thomas' research has focused mostly on amphibians and reptiles, spanning several fields from natural history to systematics and evolution. His studies have yielded descriptions of new species of dwarf geckos (''

Sphaerodactylus ''Sphaerodactylus'' is a genus of geckos from the Americas that are distinguished from other Gekkota by their small size, by their round, rather than vertical, eye pupils, and by each digit terminating in a single, round adhesive pad or scale, f ...

''), blind snakes ( Scolecophidia), and rain frogs (''

Eleutherodactylus ''Eleutherodactylus'' is a genus of frogs in the family Eleutherodactylidae.Hedges, S. B., W. E. Duellman, and M. P. Heinicke . 2008. New World direct-developing frogs (Anura: Terrarana): molecular phylogeny, classification, biogeography, and c ...

''). Wikispecies.

Taxonomic descriptions

During his career as herpetologist, Thomas has described more than 60 new species. A non-comprehensive list of described new species includes: *'' Bachia panoplia'' *'' Mitophis pyrites'' *'' Sphaerodactylus parthenopion'' *'' Typhlops syntherus'' *'' Amphisbaena xera'' *'' Eleutherodactylus coqui'' *'' Eleutherodactylus schwartzi'' *'' Sphaerodactylus elasmorhynchus'' *'' Typhlops monastus'' *'' Anolis rimarum'' *'' Cubatyphlops epactius'' *'' Celestus agasepsoides'' *'' Amerotyphlops tasymicris'' *'' Typhlops hectus'' *'' Eleutherodactylus probolaeus'' *'' Sphaerodactylus semasiops'' *'' Sphaerodactylus cryphius'' *'' Sphaerodactylus nycteropus'' *'' Sphaerodactylus streptophorus'' *'' Sibynomorphus oneilli'' *'' Bolitoglossa digitigrada'' *'' Sphaerodactylus omoglaux'' *'' Sphaerodactylus williamsi'' *'' Mitophis asbolepis'' *''

Mitophis calypso ''Mitophis'' is a genus of snakes in the family Leptotyphlopidae. All of the species were previously placed in the genus ''Leptotyphlops''. All members of this genus are endemic to the island of Hispaniola (in the Dominican Republic and Haiti). S ...

'' *'' Mitophis leptipileptus'' *''

Eleutherodactylus amadeus ''Eleutherodactylus amadeus'', also known as Mozart's frog or Haitian robber frog, is a species of frog in the family Eleutherodactylidae. It is endemic to the Massif de la Hotte, southwestern Haiti. After not having been seen after 1991, the sp ...

Sphaerodactylus ariasae ''Sphaerodactylus ariasae'', commonly called the Jaragua sphaero or the Jaragua dwarf gecko, is the smallest species of lizard in the family Sphaerodactylidae. Description ''Sphaerodactylus ariasae'' is the world's smallest known reptile. The ...

'' *'' Amphisbaena cayemite'' *'' Amphisbaena leali'' *'' Eleutherodactylus juanariveroi'' *'' Typhlops agoralionis'' *'' Typhlops anchaurus'' *'' Typhlops anousius'' *'' Typhlops arator'' *'' Typhlops contorhinus'' *'' Typhlops eperopeus'' *'' Typhlops notorachius'' *'' Typhlops paradoxus'' *'' Typhlops perimychus'' *'' Typhlops proancylops'' *'' Typhlops satelles'' *'' Typhlops sylleptor'' ''

Nota bene ( ; plural: ) is the Latin language, Latin phrase meaning ''note well''. In manuscripts, ''nota bene'' is abbreviated in upper-case as NB and N.B., and in lower-case as n.b. and nb; the editorial usages of ''nota bene'' and ''notate bene'' fi ...

'': A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a different

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

Eponyms

Richard Thomas is honored in the scientific names of several lizards, namely '' Liolaemus thomasi'', ''Anolis equestris thomasi'' Schwartz 1958, ''Leiocephalus lunatus thomasi'' Schwartz 1967, and ''Sphaerodactylus microlepis thomasi'' Schwartz 1965.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Richard 1938 births American taxonomists American herpetologists People from Jacksonville, Florida University of Puerto Rico faculty Living people