Book of the Week: The Illustrations of Erpétologie Générale

For this week’s book of the week, we feature the beautiful illustrations of André Marie Constant Duméril’s Erpétologie générale, ou, Histoire naturelle complète des reptiles, found within the 1854 Atlas volume. In this nine volume work, 1,393 species of reptiles and amphibians are described, and “their anatomy, physiology and bibliography are specified.” Interestingly, despite the recent advancements of many of his contemporaries, Duméril still asserted that amphibians and reptiles were of the same class.

Duméril was a French zoologist and professor of anatomy, herpetology, and ichthyology at the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle. His son, Auguste Duméril, was also a zoologist and collaborated with his father on this work.

Take a moment to explore the lovely illustrations accompanying the impressive work of André Marie Constant Duméril. And don’t miss the chance to peruse Duméril’s other zoological works in the Biodiversity Heritage Library.