Group portrait of Thayer Expedition assistants and volunteers

The Thayer Expedition was an American scientific expedition to Brazil, sponsored by Boston businessman Nathaniel Thayer Jr. It was a biological and geological expedition undertaken by multiple scientists, several based at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, between April 1865 and August 1866. Scientists collected tens of thousands of specimens, some later recognized as new species. Most of the specimens collected during the expedition ended up in the collections of Harvard's

Museum of Comparative Zoology The Museum of Comparative Zoology (formally the Agassiz Museum of Comparative Zoology and often abbreviated to MCZ) is a zoology museum located on the grounds of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is one of three natural-history r ...

, founded by

Louis Agassiz Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz ( ; ) FRS (For) FRSE (May 28, 1807 – December 14, 1873) was a Swiss-born American biologist and geologist who is recognized as a scholar of Earth's natural history. Spending his early life in Switzerland, he recei ...

, the leader of the expedition. The Thayer Expedition took place at the end of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, with the ocean voyage from

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

beginning on April 2, just a week prior to Lee's surrender at Appomattox. The expedition sailed on board the ''S.S. Colorado'', owned by the

Pacific Mail Steamship Company The Pacific Mail Steamship Company was founded April 18, 1848, as a joint stock company under the laws of the State of New York by a group of New York City merchants. Incorporators included William H. Aspinwall, Edwin Bartlett (American consul ...

, and docked in Rio de Janeiro on April 23. They explored Brazil from the coast to the

Tocantins River The Tocantins River ( , Parkatêjê dialect, Parkatêjê: ''Pyti'' ɨˈti is a river in Brazil, the central fluvial artery of the country. In the Tupi language, its name means "toucan's beak" (''Tukã'' for "toucan" and ''Ti'' for "beak"). It ...

and along its tributaries to the borders of Colombia and Peru.

Participants

The expedition included the following named participants: *

, Swiss-American zoologist, ichthyologist, geologist, and leader of the expedition. His primary goal for the expedition was the collection of Brazilian freshwater fish specimens. *

Elizabeth Cabot Agassiz Elizabeth Cabot Agassiz (pseudonym, Actaea; Cary; December 5, 1822 – June 27, 1907) was an American educator, naturalist, writer, and the co-founder and first president of Radcliffe College. A researcher of natural history, she was an author a ...

, American naturalist, the expedition's main writer and record-keeper, wife of Agassiz."AGASSIZ, Elizabeth Cabot Cary (Dec. 5, 1822-June 27, 1907)". ''Notable American Women: 1607–1950''. Boston: Harvard University Press, 1971. *

Joel Asaph Allen Joel Asaph Allen (July 19, 1838 – August 29, 1921) was an American zoology, zoologist, mammalogy, mammalogist, and ornithology, ornithologist. He became the first president of the American Ornithologists' Union, the first curator of birds and ma ...

, American curator of ornithology at the Museum of Comparative Zoology. * John Gould Anthony, American curator of

conchology Conchology, from Ancient Greek κόγχος (''kónkhos''), meaning "cockle (bivalve), cockle", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is the study of mollusc shells. Conchology is one aspect of malacology, the study of mollus ...

at the Museum of Comparative Zoology. * Jacques Burkhardt, Swiss scientific illustrator who painted or drew hundreds of fish specimens during the expedition. * Charles Frederick Hartt, Canadian-American geologist, paleontologist and naturalist who studied Brazilian geology. *

Orestes St. John Orestes Hawley St. John (January 12, 1841 – July 20, 1921) was an American geologist, paleontologist, and scientific illustrator specializing in the study of Paleozoic fossil fish. He trained under Louis Agassiz and worked extensively with the ...

, American geologist and paleontologist who had been trained by Agassiz. *George Sceva, American preparator, mainly of fossils, for the Museum of Comparative Zoology and others. *Six American volunteers:

William James William James (January 11, 1842 – August 26, 1910) was an American philosopher and psychologist. The first educator to offer a psychology course in the United States, he is considered to be one of the leading thinkers of the late 19th c ...

(famous future philosopher and psychologist), Herbert Edson Copeland, Newton Dexter, Walter Hunnewell, Stephen Van Rensselaer Thayer (son of expedition sponsor Nathaniel Thayer), and Thomas Ward. *João Martins da Silva Coutinho, Brazilian army major and attache of the Expedition. *D. Bourget, French naturalist residing in Rio de Janeiro.

Species collected (partial list)

* Hyphessobrycon bentosi *'' Astyanax brevirhinus'' *'' Leporinus agassizii'' *'' Gymnocoryumbus thayeri'' *'' Thayeria obliquua'' *'' Astyanax asymmetricus'' *'' Astyanax symmetricus'' *'' Astyanax zonatus'' *'' Astyanax anterior'' *'' Astyanax bourgeti'' *'' Astyanax bimaculatus borealis'' *'' Astyanax janeiroensis'' *'' Astyanax goyacensis'' *'' Astyanax brevirhimus'' *'' Astyanax giton'' *'' Astyanax albeolus'' *'' Astyanax fasciatus parahybae'' *'' Astyanax scabripinnis intermedius'' *'' Astyanax multidens'' *'' Astyanax gracilior'' *'' Deuterodon pedri'' *'' Deuterodon parahybae'' *'' Pristella'' *'' Psellogrammus'' *''

Hemigrammus coeruleus ''Hemigrammus'' is a genus of freshwater fish in the family (biology), family Characidae native to South America (including Trinidad) and commonly seen in the aquarium trade. These are medium-small tetras where the largest species reach up to ar ...

'' Durbin *'' Hemigrammus levis'' Durbin *'' Hyphessobrycon compressus milleri'' Durbin *'' Hyphessobrycon serpae'' Durbin *'' Hyphessobrycon copelandi'' Durbin *'' Hyphessobrycon panamensis'' Durbin *'' Hyphessobrycon melazonatus'' Durbin *'' Moenkhausia latissimus'' *'' Moenkhausia jamesi'' *'' Moenkhausia comma'' *'' Moenkhausia justae'' *'' Moenkhausia melogrammus'' *'' Moenkhausia australe'' *'' Moenkhausia barbouri'' *'' Moenkhausia dichrourus intermedius'' *'' Moenkhausia llepidurus latus'' *'' Moenkhausia llepidurus içae'' *'' Moenkhausia llepidurus gracilimus'' *'' Moenkhausia cotinho'' *'' Moenkhausia ceros'' *'' Bryconamericus heteresthes'' *'' Bryconamericus stramineus'' *'' Bryconamericus boops'' *'' Bryconamericus breviceps'' *'' Bryconamericus peruanus ricae'' *'' Brycochandus durbini'' *'' Creatochanes gracilis'' *'' Poptella''

References

{{Reflist

External links

Archives at Ernst Mayr Library of the Museum of Comparative Zoology
1865 in science 1866 in science 1860s in South America Expeditions from the United States Exploration of South America Scientific expeditions Zoological expeditions South American expeditions