Osbert Salvin | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1835-02-25)25 February 1835 Finchley, England |
| Died | 1 June 1898(1898-06-01) (aged 63) |
| Alma mater | Trinity Hall, Cambridge |
| Occupation | naturalist |
| Known for | Godman-Salvin Medal |
| Spouse | Caroline Octavia Maitland |
Osbert SalvinFRS (25 February 1835 – 1 June 1898) was an Englishnaturalist,ornithologist, andherpetologist best known for co-authoringBiologia Centrali-Americana (1879–1915) withFrederick DuCane Godman. This was a 52-volume encyclopedia on the natural history ofCentral America.
Osbert Salvin was born inFinchley, north London, the second son of thearchitectAnthony Salvin, of Hawksfold,Sussex. He was educated atWestminster School andTrinity Hall, Cambridge, taking his degree in 1857.[1] Shortly afterwards he accompanied his second cousin by marriage,Henry Baker Tristram, in a natural history exploration ofTunisia and easternAlgeria. Their account of this trip was published inThe Ibis in 1859 and 1860.[2]
In the autumn of 1857, he made the first of several visits toGuatemala, returning there withFrederick DuCane Godman in 1861. It was during this journey that theBiologia Centrali-Americana was planned.
In 1871 Salvin became editor ofThe Ibis. He was appointed to the Strickland Curatorship in theUniversity of Cambridge, and produced hisCatalogue of theStrickland Collection. He was one of the original members of theBritish Ornithologists' Union. He produced the volumes on theTrochilidae and theProcellariidae in theCatalogue of Birds in the British Museum. One of his last works was the completion ofLord Lilford'sColoured Figures of British Birds (1897).
Salvin was aFellow of the Royal Society, theLinnean,Zoological andEntomological Societies, and at the time of his death was Secretary of the British Ornithologists' Union.
TheGodman-Salvin Medal, a prestigious award of the British Ornithologists' Union, is named after him and Godman.
In the scientific field ofherpetology, he described two new species ofCentral Americanreptiles:Bothriechis aurifer andTyphlops tenuis.[3] Also, three species and one subspecies of reptiles have been named in his honor:Anolis salvini,Crotalus scutulatus salvini,Sceloporus salvini, andStaurotypus salvinii.[4]
In 1863, he married Caroline Octavia Maitland inLoughton, Essex. They had three daughters, Sybil Maitland Salvin (born 1867), who married Edmund Leveson Calverley in 1893, Heloise Salvin (born 1875) and Viola Salvin (born 1878). Heloise Salvin married biologistJohn Edmund Sharrock Moore.[5]Osbert's grandson isÑāṇamoli Bhikkhu, a Theravada Buddhist monk and translator of Pali literature; he was originally also named Osbert after his grandfather.
Works by or aboutOsbert Salvin atWikisource