The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles

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ogilby 193 O Oates, E. W. Oates’ Worm Snake Typhlops oatesii Boulenger, 1890 [Alt. Andaman Island Worm Snake] Eugene William Oates (1845–1911) was a civil servant in British Colonial India and Burma (now Myanmar) and an amateur naturalist. When he returned to England he was Secretary of the British Ornithologists’ Union (1898– 1901). He wrote The Fauna of British India (1889). A bird is named after him. Oates, F. Oates’ Savanna Vine Snake Thelotornis capensis oatesii Günther, 1881 Francis “Frank” Oates (1840–1875) was a naturalist who was in Matabeleland (1874) and became one of the first Europeans, after Livingstone, to sight the Victoria Falls. He traveled in Central and North America (1871–1872), and he and his brother William Edward Oates, a renowned traveler and hunter, left England for Africa (1873) to trek to the Zambesi. Francis died of malaria, and another brother, Charles George Oates, collected his diaries and letters, edited them, and published them as Matabele Land and the Victoria Falls: A Naturalist’s Wanderings in the Interior of South Africa (1881). His nephew was Captain Lawrence Oates, who died on Scott’s last expedition to the Antarctic. Oberon Royal Lesser Spiny Lizard Sceloporus minor oberon H. M. Smith and Brown, 1941 [Syn. Sceloporus ornatus oberon] Oberon, King of the Fairies and Shadows, is best known from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Obst Obst’s Pond Turtle Emys orbicularis fritzjuergenobsti Fritz, 1993 Keeled Box Turtle ssp. Cuora mouhotii obsti Fritz, Andreas, and Lehr, 1998 Obst’s Rock Gecko Pristurus obsti Rösler and Wranik, 1999 Professor Dr. Fritz Jürgen Obst (b. 1939) is a German herpetologist. He studied psychology and biology at Universität Heidelberg and Universität Hohenheim, Stuttgart, which awarded his doctorate (1996). He was Curator of Lower Vertebrates and Insects at the Zoological Gardens, Stuttgart (1990–1996), and he became herpetologist at the Staatliche Museum für Tierkunde, Dresden, becoming Deputy Director (1997), then Director (2001). Since 1997 he has also taught at Universität Leipzig. He wrote Turtles, Tortoises, and Terrapins (1988) and has co-authored books with Fritz and Andreas. Ochoterena Guerreran Skink Eumeces ochoterenae Taylor, 1933 Ochoterena’s Lizard Sceloporus ochoterenae H. M. Smith, 1934 Northern Chiapas Arboreal Alligator Lizard Abronia ochoterenai Martín del Campo, 1939 Dr. Isaac Ochoterena Mendieta (1885–1950) was Professor of Histology and Embryology at, and Director of, Instituto de Biologia, Universidad Nacional de Mexico, Mexico City. He was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Mexican army, as he had been Professor of Histology at the Mexican Army Medical School. Ocoa Peravia Least Gecko Sphaerodactylus ocoae Schwartz and Thomas, 1977 Named after Sierra de Ocoa, a mountainous area in the Dominican Republic. Oelofsen Oelofsen’s Girdled Lizard Cordylus oelofseni Mouton and Van Wyk, 1990 Dr. Burger W. Oelofsen is Director of Resource Management , Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Walvis Bay, Namibia. He has worked with Mouton, with whom he co-wrote “A Model Explaining Patterns of Geographic Character Variation in Cordylus cordylus (Reptilia: Cordylidae ) in the South-western Cape, South Africa” (1988). Oenpelli Oenpelli’s Rock Python Morelia oenpelliensis Gow, 1977 Oenpelli is an Aboriginal community in the Northern Territory of Australia. Oertzen Oertzen’s Lizard Lacerta oertzeni Werner, 1904 [Syn. Anatololacerta oertzeni] E. von Oertzen was an entomologist who visited Crete, Greece, and Asia Minor (Turkey) (1884–1887), during which travels he collected reptiles including the holotype of this lizard. He wrote Verzeichnis der Coleopteren Griechenlands und Cretas, nebst einigen Bemerkungen uber ihre geographische Verbreitung und die Zeit des Vorkommens einiger Arten betreffenden Sammelberischten (1886). Ogilby Ogilby’s Knobtail Gecko Nephrurus sphyrurus Ogilby, 1892 James Douglas Ogilby (1853–1925) was an Irish ichthyologist and taxonomist who migrated to Australia (1884) 194 okada after having worked at the British Museum and in the USA. He was appointed to the Australian Museum, Sydney (1885), but was sacked (1890) for being drunk on the job. The contemporary report criticized his “extreme and undiscriminating affinity for alcohol.” Though sacked as a permanent employee, he went on working on a contract basis. He worked for the Queensland Museum (1901–1904 and 1913–1920). Okada Okada’s Skink Plestiodon okadae Stejneger, 1907 [Alt. Okada’s Five-lined Skink; Syn. Eumeces okadae, Eumeces latiscutatus okadae] Shigefumi Okada was the author of Catalogue of Vertebrated Animals of Japan (1891). Stejneger does no more than attribute the species to “S. Okada” in his etymology. He is not to be confused with his famous namesake Professor Dr. Yaichiro Okada...