Walter Faxon (February 4, 1848 – August 10, 1920) was an American

ornithologist Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is a branch of zoology dedicated to the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related discip ...

and

carcinologist This is a list of notable carcinologists. A carcinologist is a scientist who studies crustaceans or is otherwise involved in carcinology (the science of crustaceans). References

{{Reflist, 24em Carcinologists, . Lists of zoologists, Carcino ...

. He was born at

Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts Jamaica Plain is a Neighborhoods in Boston, neighborhood of in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Settled by Puritans seeking farmland to the south, it was originally part of Roxbury, Massachusetts, Roxbury. The community seceded from Roxbur ...

, where he grew up. He received three degrees from

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 ...

. One of his greater ornithological achievements was demonstration that Brewster's warbler is a

hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two diff ...

. He spent many years researching and classifying many American

crayfish Crayfish are freshwater crustaceans belonging to the infraorder Astacidea, which also contains lobsters. Taxonomically, they are members of the superfamilies Astacoidea and Parastacoidea. They breathe through feather-like gills. Some spe ...

, including the

genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

Astacus ''Astacus'' (from the Ancient Greek, Greek , ', meaning "lobster" or "crayfish") is a genus of crayfish found in Europe, comprising three Extant taxon, extant (living) species and three somewhat contested extinct species. These crayfish are foun ...

'', ''

Orconectes ''Orconectes'' is a genus of cave dwelling freshwater crayfish, endemic to suitable habitats in the eastern United States. Surface dwelling species, formerly categorised here, were moved to '' Faxonius'' in 2017. Due to their subterranean habit ...

'', and ''

Procambarus ''Procambarus'' is a genus of crayfish in the family Cambaridae, all native to North and Central America. It includes a number of troglobitic species, and the marbled crayfish (''marmorkrebs''), which is parthenogenetic. Originally described as ...

'', and contributed to at least 20 different scientific papers. Following a 2017 review, carried out by Oxford University, the former ''

Faxonius ''Faxonius'' is a genus of freshwater crayfish in the family Cambaridae. There are more than 90 described species in ''Faxonius''. It includes the rusty crayfish, an invasive species in North America, and three species, ''F. virilis'', ''F. immu ...

'' subgenus of ''Orconectes'' was raised to a full genus as the subgenera were not

monophyletic In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria: # the grouping contains its own most recent co ...

. The genus '' Faxonella'' is similarly named to honour Faxon.

References

American carcinologists American ornithologists 1848 births 1920 deaths Harvard University alumni People from Jamaica Plain Scientists from Boston 19th-century American zoologists 20th-century American zoologists {{US-zoologist-stub