Pierre Marie Arthur Morelet Explained

Pierre Marie Arthur Morelet (26 August 1809  - 9 October 1892) was a French naturalist, born in Lays, Doubs. He was a member of the commission to Algeria, primarily as a natural artist, drawing any natural findings. He collected specimens in the Canary Islands, Guatemala and Mexico.

He had a particular interest in molluscs and was recognised as a leading expert in the field.^[1]

Morelet married Noémie de Folin, sister of Léopold de Folin. Morelet died of natural causes in 1892, in Dijon.

Taxa described

Morelet described various taxa, including:

• Cyclophorus horridulum (Morelet, 1882) – a species of land snail
• Crocodylus moreletii (Morelet, 1850) – a crocodile

Taxa named in his honour

Taxa named in honour of Arthur Morelet include:

• Agalychnis moreletii (A.M.C. Duméril, 1853) – Morelet's Treefrog
• Crocodylus moreletii (A.H.A. Duméril & Bibron, 1851) – Morelet's Crocodile^[2]
• Mesaspis moreletii (Bocourt, 1871) – Morelet's alligator lizard^[2]
  • Ommatoiulus moreletii (Lucas, 1860) – Portuguese millipede Sporophila morelleti (Bonaparte, 1850) – Morelet's seedeater^[3]

Gastropods:

• Clavator moreleti Crosse & Fischer, 1868
• Conus moreleti Crosse, 1858
• Edentulina moreleti (Adams, 1868)
• Leidyula moreleti (Fischer, 1871)
• Letourneuxia moreleti (P. Hesse, 1884)
• Onoba moreleti Dautzenberg, 1889
• Patella moreleti Drouet, 1858

Bibliography

• Morelet A. (1845). Description des mollusques terrestres et fluviatiles du Portugal. pp. [1–3], I - VII, 1 - 116, Pl. I - XIV. Paris. (Bailliere). scan
• Morelet A. (1860). Iles Açores. Notice sur l'histoire naturelle des Açores suivie d'une description des mollusques terrestres de cet archipel. scan

Notes and References

1. Book: Fumagalli, Maria Cristina . Surveying the American Tropics : A Literary Geography from New York to Rio . Hulme . Peter . Robinson . Owen . Wylie . Lesley . Liverpool University Press . 2013 . 9781846318900 . Liverpool . 116–117 . en.
2. Beolens B, Watkins M, Grayson M. 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Morelet", pp. 182-183).
3. "Fifty-ninth Supplement to the American Ornithological Society's Check-list of North American Birds", The Auk 135: 798-813, at p. 809. . For a full taxonomic history of this species with copious references, see R. Wright, "Sharpe's Pygmy Finch", Birding New Jersey, June 22, 2018.