Edward Harrison Taylor


Edward Harrison Taylor was an American herpetologist from Missouri.

Family

Taylor was born in Maysville, Missouri, to George and Loretta Taylor. He had an older brother, Eugene.

Education

Taylor studied at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas, graduating with a B.A. in 1912. Field trips during his time at the University of Kansas with Dr. Clarence McClung and Dr. Roy Moody helped prepare Taylor for his future endeavors.
Between 1916 and 1920 he returned briefly to Kansas to finish his M.A..

Career

Upon completing his bachelor's degree, Taylor went to the Philippines, where at first he held a teacher's post in a village in central Mindanao. He collected and studied the local herpetofauna extensively and published many papers. He returned to the Philippines after completing his master's degree and was appointed Chief of Fisheries in Manila. On his many survey trips he continued collecting and studying fishes and reptiles of the islands.
In 1927, back in the United States, he became the head of the zoology department of the University of Kansas at Lawrence. From 1929 to 1936, he studied the taxonomy of the genus Eumeces. Subsequently, he focused on Mexican herpetofauna, which he explored on many field trips from 1937 to 1948. In the following years, his explorations took him to Costa Rica, Sri Lanka and Thailand, and he published extensively on all these countries. In 1965, he turned his attention onto Caecilians after having discovered a new species on an island in the Sea of Celebes.
Along with his scientific career, Taylor was attached to intelligence operations. After World War I, he was sent to Siberia to follow the Russian Revolution under the cover of a Red Cross mission to stop a typhus epidemic. During World War II, the OSS employed Taylor to teach jungle survival in British Ceylon.

Research

Taylor described about 120 reptile species that are still recognized today, most of them from the Philippine Islands, but many others from Mexico and other parts of the world.

Eponymous taxa

Ten reptile species named in E.H.Taylor's honor are still recognized as valid: Turtles: Trachemys taylori ; Lizards: Anolis taylori, Cyrtodactylus edwardtaylori, Dibamus taylori, Gekko taylori, Lankascincus taylori, Sceloporus edwardtaylori, Sphenomorphus taylori, ; Snakes: Agkistrodon taylori, Pseudorabdion taylori.
Eleven reptile subspecies named in E.H.Taylor's honor are still recognized as valid: Lizards: Brachymeles boulengeri taylori, Gerrhonotus liocephalus taylori, Lipinia pulchella taylori, Sceloporus occidentalis taylori, Sphenomorphus assatus taylori, Uta stansburiana taylori ; Snakes: Coniophanes picevittis taylori, Cyclocorus nuchalis taylori, Ficimia publia taylori*, Lampropeltis triangulum taylori, Micrurus browni taylori. *This subspecies is not widely recognised.
Eight amphibian species named in E.H.Taylor's honor are still recognized as valid: Frogs: Hyalinobatrachium taylori, Craugastor taylori, Lithobates taylori ; Salamanders: Ambystoma taylori, Bolitoglossa taylori, Oedipina taylori ; Caecilians: Microcaecilia taylori.

Publications

Taylor's autobiographical memoir Edward H. Taylor: Recollection of an Herpetologist was published by the University of Kansas Museum of Natural History in 1975 with contributions from A. Byron Leonard, Hobart M. Smith and George R. Pisani.