Thayer Expedition

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Group portrait of Thayer Expedition assistants and volunteers ca. 1866. Sitting on floor, bottom left: William James. On chairs, left to right: D. Bourget, Walter Hunnewell, Jacques Burkhardt, Newton Dexter. Standing, left to right: Stephen van Rensselaer, Joao Martins da Silva Coutinho. Group portrait of Thayer Expedition assistants and volunteers.jpg
Group portrait of Thayer Expedition assistants and volunteers ca. 1866. Sitting on floor, bottom left: William James. On chairs, left to right: D. Bourget, Walter Hunnewell, Jacques Burkhardt, Newton Dexter. Standing, left to right: Stephen van Rensselaer, João Martins da Silva Coutinho.

The Thayer Expedition was an American scientific expedition to Brazil, sponsored by Boston businessman Nathaniel Thayer Jr. It was a biological and geological expedition undertaken by multiple scientists, several based at Harvard University, between April 1865 and August 1866. Scientists collected tens of thousands of specimens, some later recognized as new species. [1] Most of the specimens collected during the expedition ended up in the collections of Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zoology, founded by Louis Agassiz, the leader of the expedition. [2]

Contents

The Thayer Expedition took place at the end of the American Civil War, with the ocean voyage from New York City to Rio de Janeiro beginning on April 2, just a week prior to Lee's surrender at Appomattox. The expedition sailed on board the S.S. Colorado, owned by the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, and docked in Rio de Janeiro on April 23. They explored Brazil from the coast to the Tocantins River and along its tributaries to the borders of Colombia and Peru. [2] [3]

Participants

The expedition included the following named participants: [2]

Species collected (partial list)

References

  1. ↑ Eigenmann, Carl H. (December 1908). "Zoological Results of the Thayer Brazilian Expedition: Preliminary Descriptions of New Genera and Species of Tetragonopterid Characins". Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology. 52 (6): 91–106.
  2. 1 2 3 Dick, Myvanwy M. (May 27, 1977). "Stations of the Thayer Expedition to Brazil 1865–1866". Breviora of the Museum of Comparative Zoology (444): 1–39.
  3. ↑ Hartt, Charles Frederick (1870). Scientific Results of a Journey in Brazil by Louis Agassiz, and His Travelling Companions - Geology and Physical Geography of Brazil. Boston: Fields, Osgood & Co.
  4. ↑ "AGASSIZ, Elizabeth Cabot Cary (Dec. 5, 1822-June 27, 1907)". Notable American Women: 1607–1950. Boston: Harvard University Press, 1971.
  5. ↑ Eigenmann, Carl H. (1908). "Preliminary descriptions of new genera and species of tetragonopterid characins. (Zoölogical Results of the Thayer Brazilian expedition.)". Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College. 52 (6): 96–97. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  6. ↑ Black, Nina. "MCZ Ichthyology 20905". mczbase.mcz.harvard.edu. Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
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