François Mocquard
French herpetologist / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
François Mocquard (27 October 1834 – 19 March 1917) was a French herpetologist born in Leffond, Haute-Saône.
In 1860 he was named préparateur du physique after receiving his Bachelor of Science degree at the Faculty of Besançon. Subsequently, he earned degrees in physical sciences (1862), mathematical sciences (1865) and medicine (1873). Despite being middle-aged, he made a career change, and began studying natural sciences in the laboratory of Alphonse Milne-Edwards (1835-1900) at the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris. In 1884 he earned his doctorate of sciences with a thesis on the structure of the stomach in crustaceans, afterwards working as an assistant in the ichthyology and herpetology department at the museum.[1]
During his career he described numerous herpetological taxa, most notably species from Madagascar, Tonkin, Borneo, Mexico and Central America.[2] In addition, he has several species named after him, including reptiles, Alluaudina mocquardi, Mochlus mocquardi, Tretanorhinus mocquardi, Tropidophorus mocquardii, and Xenotyphlops mocquardi ;[3] and amphibians, Mantidactylus mocquardi and Mertensophryne mocquardi.[4][5][6]