Louis Fraser (1810 – 1866) was a Britishzoologist and collector. In his early years, Fraser was curator of the Museum of theZoological Society of London.[1]
Little is known about Fraser's early life. He was born in 1810[2][3] and married Mary Ann Harrison on 17 February 1844. A son Oscar L. Fraser worked as an assistant in the Indian Museum at Calcutta around 1888. He worked for fourteen years at the museum of the Zoological Society of London. He worked with the anatomist Richard Owen on studies of the emu and rhea. He participated in theNiger expedition of 1841 as theAfrican Civilization Society's scientist, withAllen andThomson.[1] He stayed on in Fernando Po and collected. Upon his return he became in charge ofLord Derby's collection atKnowsley Hall.[1] In 1846 he was sent by Lord Derby to collect in north Africa. In 1848 he became conservator at Knowsley. He wroteZoologica Typica, or figures of the new and rare animals and birds in the collection of the Zoological Society of London, a lavishly illustrated large-sized book, published in 1849.[2] In this book he described many new species of birds. In 1850, Fraser was appointed Consul of Quidah, Dahomey (now Benin), West Africa.[4] Around 1857–1859, he collected birds and mammals in Ecuador forPhilip Lutley Sclater of the Zoological Society of London, and the year after in California. Upon his return to London, he opened a shop in Regent Street, London, selling exotic birds. The last years of his life he spent in America.[4]
Fraser wrote aCatalogue of the Knowsley Collections (1850) and described several new species including theDerbyan parakeetPsittacula derbiana named after his employer.[2] A number of species and subspecies have been named in his honour, including Fraser's anole (Anolis fraseri), Fraser's ground snake (Liophis epinephelus fraseri), a centipede snake (Tantilla fraseri, a synonym ofTantilla melanocephala),[5]Fraser's eagle-owl (Bubo poensis),Fraser's warbler (Myiothlypis fraseri),[6] andFraser's musk shrew (Crocidura poensis).[4][7] Died at age 56.
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