Samuel B. McDowell

{{Short description|American herpetologist}}

{{use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}{{Cite news |last=McDowell |first=Sam B. |date=1963-07-26 |title=Comment |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1963/08/03/comment-4878?_sp=0e3a6ca8-c1c1-4c24-ac5d-19b5d0bf6882.1739164226306 |access-date=2025-02-10 |work=The New Yorker |language=en-US |issn=0028-792X}}

{{Infobox scientist

| name = Samuel B. McDowell

| image =

| image_size =

| caption =

| birth_name = Samuel Booker McDowell Jr.

| birth_date = September 13, 1928

| birth_place =

| death_date = {{death date and age|2014|12|31|1928|09|13|mf=y}}

| death_place =

| education = Columbia University
B.Sc. (1947)
Ph.D. (1957)

| fields = Herpetology

| title =

| spouse =

| parents =

| workplaces= AMNH

| influenced =

| nationality = American

| author_abbrev_zoo = McDowell

}}

{{scholia|Q2112079}}

Samuel Booker McDowell Jr. (1928–2014) was an American herpetologist who worked on the comparative anatomy of turtles and snakes, and studied snakes of Oceania.{{Cite Q|Q56037668}}{{Cite Q|Q99974549}}

McDowell earned a B.Sc. (1947) and a Ph.D. (1957) from Columbia University, and worked at the American Museum of Natural History. His zoological author abbreviation is McDowell. Several snakes are named in his honor.{{EMBL species|genus=Gerrhopilus|species=mcdowelli}} www.reptile-database.org.

In addition to his scientific work, McDowell was a friend of New Yorker writer A.J. Liebling,{{Cite news |last=Liebling |first=A. J. |date=1962-10-19 |title=The Soul of Bouillabaisse Town |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1962/10/27/the-soul-of-bouillabaisse-town |access-date=2025-02-10 |work=The New Yorker |language=en-US |issn=0028-792X}} and an occasional contributor to the magazine in the early 1960s.{{Cite news |last=McDowell |first=Sam B. |date=1963-07-26 |title=Comment |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1963/08/03/comment-4878?_sp=0e3a6ca8-c1c1-4c24-ac5d-19b5d0bf6882.1739164226306 |access-date=2025-02-10 |work=The New Yorker |language=en-US |issn=0028-792X}}{{Cite news |last=McDowell |first=Sam B. |date=1962-04-13 |title=First Latimeria |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1962/04/21/first-latimeria |access-date=2025-02-10 |work=The New Yorker |language=en-US |issn=0028-792X}}

Some taxa authored

Eponyms

The following four snakes are named in honor of McDowell.Beolens, B.; Watkins, M.; Grayson, M. (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. {{ISBN|978-1-4214-0135-5}}. (McDowell, p. 173).

Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a different genus.

Selected publications

  • {{cite Q|Q99966086}}
  • {{cite Q|Q29030857}}
  • {{cite Q|Q55868153}}
  • {{cite Q|Q99966085}}
  • {{cite Q|Q68201288}}
  • {{cite Q|Q95637275}}

References

{{reflist|refs=

{{citation|author=Crumly, Charles R. |date=2015 |title=Obituary: Samuel Booker McDowell Jr. (13 Sept 1928 - 31 Dec 2014) The most important herpetologist you never knew|journal=Herpetological Review|volume= 46|issue=3|pages= 489–493|

url=https://www.dropbox.com/s/1e8zna5f318vn6t/HR%20Sept%202015%20ebook.pdf?dl=1}}

}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:McDowell, Samuel B.}}

Category:1928 births

Category:2014 deaths

Category:American herpetologists

Category:Place of birth missing

Category:Place of death missing

Category:Columbia University alumni

Category:People associated with the American Museum of Natural History