James R. Dixon

{{Short description|American herpetologist}} [[File:Dr James Dixon.jpg|thumb|Dr. James Dixon with a rattlesnake in April, 2005.]] '''James Ray Dixon''' (August 1, 1928, in [[Houston, Texas]] – January 10, 2015, in [[Bryan, Texas]]) was professor emeritus and curator emeritus of [[amphibian]]s and [[reptile]]s at the Texas Cooperative Wildlife Collection at [[Texas A&M University]].<ref name="AMobit">{{cite web|url=http://wfsc.tamu.edu/2015/01/16/memorial-service-for-dr-james-dixon/ |title=Dr. James Dixon |date=January 16, 2015 |publisher=[[Texas A&M]] Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences |access-date=2 July 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150702070418/http://wfsc.tamu.edu/2015/01/16/memorial-service-for-dr-james-dixon/ |archive-date= 2 July 2015 }}</ref><ref name="Forstner et al 2015">{{cite journal|last1=Forstner|first1=Michael R.J.|author-link1=species:Michael R.J. Forstner|last2=Lazcano|first2=David|author2-link=species:DavidLazcano|last3=Thomas|first3=Robert A.|author3-link=species:Robert A. Thomas|title=In Memoriam: James Ray Dixon|journal=The Southwestern Naturalist|date=2015|volume=60|issue=1|pages=132–138|doi=10.1894/0038-4909-60.1.132|s2cid=85976793 }}</ref> He lived in [[El Campo, Texas]], throughout most of his childhood. He published prolifically on the subject of [[herpetology]] in his distinguished career, authoring and co-authoring several books, book chapters, and numerous peer reviewed notes and articles, describing two new [[Genus|genera]], and many new [[species]], earning him a reputation as one of the most prominent [[Herpetology|herpetologist]]s of his generation. His main research focus was morphology based [[systematics]] of amphibians and reptiles worldwide with emphasis on Texas, US, Mexico, Central America, and South America, although bibliographies, conservation, ecology, life history and zoogeography have all been the subjects of his extensive publications.

==Eponyms== A genus of lizards, ''[[Dixonius]]'' {{small|[[:fr:Aaron Matthew Bauer|Bauer]], [[species:David A. Good|Good]] & [[William Roy Branch|Branch]], 1997}}, leaf-toed geckos from [[Southeast Asia]], was named in his honor as well as several species of reptiles and amphibians, e.g., the white-lipped peeping frog, ''Eleutherodactylus dixoni'' {{small|[[:fr:John Douglas Lynch|J.D. Lynch]], 1991}} (= ''[[Eleutherodactylus albolabris]]'' {{small|[[Edward Harrison Taylor|Taylor]], 1943}}); Dixon's peeping frog, ''Eleutherodactylus jamesdixoni'' <small>Devitt et al, 2023</small>; the gray checkered whiptail, ''Cnemidophorus dixoni'' {{small|[[species:James F. Scudday|Scudday]], 1973}} (= ''[[Aspidoscelis tesselatus]]'' {{small|([[Thomas Say|Say]], 1823)}}); Dixon's leaf-toed gecko, ''[[:fr:Phyllodactylus dixoni|Phyllodactylus dixoni]]'' {{small|[[species:Carlos Rivero-Blanco|Rivero-Blanco]] & [[species:Abdem Ramón Lancini Villalaz|Lancini]], 1968}}; and the large-eyed snake, ''Thamnodynastes dixoni'' {{small|[[:fr:Joseph Randle Bailey|Bailey]] & [[species:Robert Allen Thomas|R.A. Thomas]], 2007}}.<ref>[[species:Bo Beolens|Beolens, Bo]]; [[species:Michael Watkins|Watkins, Michael]]; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. {{ISBN|978-1-4214-0135-5}}. ("Dixon", p. 73).</ref>

==Education and early career== Dixon attained his Bachelor of Science from [[Howard Payne University]] (1950), and then served in the [[Korean War]] (1951–1953). Upon returning from the war, he briefly acted as Curator of Reptiles at the Ross Allen Reptile Institute from 1954 to 1955. He earned his master's degree (1957) and PhD in (1961) from Texas A&M University. He was an associate professor of veterinary medicine at Texas A&M from 1959 until 1961.

==Career== From 1961 until 1965 he was an associate professor of wildlife management at [[New Mexico State University]] and served as a consultant to the New Mexico state Game and Fisheries department. He was on the faculty of the [[University of Southern California]] and from 1965 until 1967 he was Curator of Herpetology at the Life Sciences Division at the Los Angeles County Museum in California. In 1967 he returned to Texas to become a professor at Texas A&M University, teaching wildlife and fisheries science, and curator of the Texas Cooperative Wildlife Collection or TCWC (recently renamed Biodiversity Research and Teaching Collections or BRTC). Over 20 herpetologists earned Ph.D.s studying under him at Texas A&M University. He has also served as president of several herpetological and naturalist societies including The Herpetologist League, Texas Herpetological Society, Texas Academy of Science; Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Southwestern Association of Naturalists, and on the board of directors of the Texas Systems of Natural Laboratories. He has also served on the faculty of Stephen F. Austin State University and Texas State University.

===New genera of reptiles described by James R. Dixon=== Listed in chronological order. *''[[Crenadactylus]]'' {{small|Dixon & [[Arnold G. Kluge|Kluge]], 1964}} – tiny Australian clawless geckos *''[[Asaccus]]'' {{small|Dixon & [[species:Steven Clement Anderson|S. Anderson]], 1973}} – Southwest Asian leaf-toed geckos

===A partial list of new amphibian and reptile species described by James R. Dixon=== Listed in chronological order. *''[[Eleutherodactylus dilatus]]'' {{small|([[species:William Bennoni Davis|Davis]] & Dixon, 1955)}} – [[Guerrero|Guerreran]] peeping frog *''[[Eleutherodactylus grandis]]'' {{small|(Dixon, 1957)}} – great peeping frog *''[[Coleonyx reticulatus]]'' {{small|Davis & Dixon, 1958}} – reticulate banded gecko *''[[Eleutherodactylus rufescens]]'' {{small|([[:fr:William Edward Duellman|Duellman]] & Dixon, 1959)}} – red peeping frog *''[[Phyllodactylus duellmani]]'' {{small|Dixon, 1960}} – [[:fr:William Edward Duellman|Duellman's]] pigmy leaf-toed gecko *''[[Phyllodactylus insularis]]'' {{small|Dixon, 1960}} – [[Belize]] leaf-toed gecko *''[[Phyllodactylus paucituberculatus]]'' {{small|Dixon, 1960}} – Rio Marquez Valley gecko *''[[Ambystoma flavipiperatum]]'' {{small|Dixon, 1963}} – yellow-peppered salamander *''[[Phyllodactylus davisi]]'' {{small|Dixon, 1964}} – [[species:William Bennoni Davis|Davis']] leaf-toed gecko *''[[Phyllodactylus nocticolus]]'' {{small|Dixon, 1964}} – peninsula leaf-toed gecko *''[[Eleutherodactylus nivicolimae]]'' {{small|(Dixon & [[Robert G. Webb|Webb]], 1966)}} – [[Volcán de Colima|Nevado de Colima]] chirping frog *''[[Phyllodactylus angelensis]]'' {{small|Dixon, 1966}} – [[Isla Ángel de la Guarda|Angel Island]] leaf-toed gecko *''[[Phyllodactylus apricus]]'' {{small|Dixon, 1966}} – [[Isla Las Animas|Las Animas Island]] gecko *''[[Phyllodactylus bugastrolepis]]'' {{small|Dixon, 1966}} – [[Isla Santa Catalina|Catalina]] Island leaf-toed gecko *''[[Phyllodactylus partidus]]'' {{small|Dixon, 1966}} – [[Isla Partida|Isla Partida Norte]] leaf-toed gecko *''[[Phyllodactylus santacruzensis]]'' {{small|Dixon, 1966}} – [[Isla Santa Cruz (Baja California Sur)|Santa Cruz]] leaf-toed gecko *''[[Phyllodactylus tinklei]]'' {{small|Dixon, 1966}} – Raza Island leaf-toed gecko *''[[Phyllodactylus palmeus]]'' {{small|Dixon, 1968}} – [[Honduras]] leaf-toed gecko *''[[Phyllodactylus angustidigitus]]'' {{small|Dixon & [[Raymond B. Huey|Huey]], 1970}} – narrow leaf-toed gecko *''[[Phyllodactylus clinatus]]'' {{small|Dixon & Huey, 1970}} – Cerro Illescas gecko *''[[Phyllodactylus interandinus]]'' {{small|Dixon & Huey, 1970}} – [[Andes]] leaf-toed gecko *''[[Phyllodactylus johnwrighti]]'' {{small|Dixon & Huey, 1970}} – [[Huancabamba River|Rio Huancabamba]] leaf-toed gecko *''[[Phyllodactylus kofordi]]'' {{small|Dixon & Huey, 1970}} – coastal leaf-toed gecko *''[[Phyllodactylus pumilus]]'' {{small|Dixon & Huey, 1970}} – leaf-toed gecko *''[[Phyllodactylus sentosus]]'' {{small|Dixon & Huey, 1970}} – [[Lima]] leaf-toed gecko *''[[Pseudogonatodes peruvianus]]'' {{small|Huey & Dixon, 1970}} – [[Peru]] clawed gecko *''[[Sceloporus exsul]]'' {{small|Dixon, [[species:Chesley Arthur Ketchersid|Ketchersid]] & [[species:Carl S. Lieb|Lieb]], 1972}} – [[Querétaro|Queretaran]] desert spiny lizard *''[[Hypsiglena tanzeri]]'' {{small|Dixon & Lieb, 1972}} – [[species:Ernest Claude Tanzer|Tanzer's]] night snake *''[[Bachia huallagana]]'' {{small|Dixon, 1973}} – Dixon's bachia *''[[Asaccus griseonotus]]'' {{small|Dixon & [[species:Steven Clement Anderson|S. Anderson]], 1973}} – gray-marked gecko *''[[Rhachisaurus brachylepis]]'' {{small|(Dixon, 1974)}} – Dixon's antosaura *''[[Anotosaura vanzolinia]]'' {{small|Dixon, 1974}} – [[Paulo Vanzolini|Vanzolini's]] antosaura *''[[Helicops yacu]]'' {{small|[[Douglas A. Rossman|Rossman]] & Dixon, 1975}} – Peru keelback *''[[Bachia guianensis]]'' {{small|[[:fr:Marinus Steven Hoogmoed|Hoogmoed]] & Dixon, 1977}} – [[Guyana]] bachia *''[[Erythrolamprus pyburni]]'' {{small|([[species:Allan L. Markezich|Markezich]] & Dixon, 1979)}} – [[:fr:William Frank Pyburn|Pyburn's]] tropical forest snake *''[[Typhlops minuisquamus]]'' {{small|Dixon & [[species:Fred S. Hendricks|Hendricks]], 1979}} – basin worm snake *''[[Typhlops paucisquamus]]'' {{small|Dixon & Hendricks, 1979}} – [[Pernambuco]] worm snake *''[[Kentropyx vanzoi]]'' {{small|[[species:Daniel Stephen Gallagher Jr.|Gallagher]] & Dixon, 1980}} – Gallagher's kentropyx *''[[Neusticurus medemi]]'' {{small|Dixon & [[species:William W. Lamar|Lamar]], 1981}} – [[Friedrich Johann Graf von Medem|Medem's]] neisticurus *''[[Erythrolamprus andinus]]'' {{small|(Dixon, 1983)}} – ground snake *''[[Liotyphlops argaleus]]'' {{small|Dixon & [[species:Christopher Patrick Kofron|Kofron]], 1984}} – ground snake *''[[Erythrolamprus atraventer]]'' {{small|(Dixon & [[species:Robert A. Thomas|R.A. Thomas]], 1985)}} – Dixon's ground snake *''[[Erythrolamprus maryellenae]]'' {{small|(Dixon, 1985)}} – [[Mary Ellen Dixon|Mary Ellen's]] ground snake *''[[Lygophis vanzolinii]]'' {{small|(Dixon, 1985)}} – Vanzolini's ground snake *''[[Cnemidophorus gramivagus]]'' {{small|[[species:Hugh K. McCrystal|McCrystal]] & Dixon, 1987}} – whiptail lizard *''[[Erythrolamprus ceii]]'' {{small|(Dixon, 1991)}} – [[:es:José Miguel Alfredo María Cei|Cei's]] ground snake *''[[Sceloporus chaneyi]]'' {{small|[[species:Ernest Anthony Liner|Liner]] & Dixon, 1992}} – [[species:Allan Harold Chaney|Chaney's]] bunchgrass lizard *''[[Chironius laurenti]]'' {{small|Dixon, [[species:John Alton Wiest|Wiest]] & [[:es:José Miguel Alfredo María Cei|Cei]], 1993}} – [[Raymond Ferdinand Laurent|Laurent's]] sipo *''[[Chironius septentrionalis]]'' {{small|Dixon, Wiest & Cei, 1993}} – [[South America]]n sipo *''[[Tantilla johnsoni]]'' {{small|[[:fr:Larry David Wilson|Wilson]], [[species:R. Kathryn Vaughan|Vaughn]] & Dixon, 1999}} – [[Chiapas|Chiapan]] centipede snake *''[[Erythrolamprus janaleeae]]'' {{small|(Dixon, 2000)}} – ground snake *''[[Erythrolamprus vitti]]'' {{small|(Dixon, 2000)}} – [[species:Laurie J. Vitt|Vitt's]] ground snake *''[[Micrurus tamaulipensis]]'' {{small|[[species:Pablo Antonio Lavin-Murcio|Lavin-Murcio]] & Dixon, 2004}} – [[Sierra de Tamaulipas]] coral snake *''[[Lampropeltis webbi]]'' {{small|[[species:Robert W. Bryson|Bryson]], Dixon & [[species:David Lazcano|Lazcano]], 2005}} – [[Robert G. Webb|Webb's]] kingsnake *''[[Pristimantis waoranii]]'' {{small|([[species:Shawn F. McCracken|McCracken]], [[species:Michael R.J. Forstner|Forstner]] & Dixon, 2007)}} – South American rain frog

''[[Nota bene]]'': A [[Binomial nomenclature|binomial authority]] in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a different genus.

== References == {{Reflist}}

==External links and further reading== *Altig R (2012). "Academic Lineages of Doctoral Degrees in Herpetology (third edition)". pp. 471–564. '''''In'':''' Adler K (2012). ''Contributions to the History of Herpetology''. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles. 564 pp. *[[:fr:Joseph Randle Bailey|Bailey JR]], Thomas RA (2007). "A revision of the South American snake genus ''Thamnodynastes'' Wagler, 1830 (Serpentes, Colubridae, Tachymenini). II. Three new species from northern South America, with further descriptions of ''Thamnodynastes gambotensis'' Pérez-Santos and Moreno and ''Thamnodynastes ramonriveroi'' Manzanilla & Sánchez". ''Memoria de la Fundación La Salle de Ciencias Naturales'' '''166''': 7-27. *[[:fr:Aaron Matthew Bauer|Bauer AM]], Good DA, [[:fr:William Roy Branch|Branch WR]] (1997). "The taxonomy of the Southern African leaf-toed geckos (Squamata: Gekkonidae), with a review of Old World "''Phyllodactylus''" and the description of five new genera". ''Proc. California Acad. Sci.'' '''49''' (14): 447–497. *Beltz, Ellin (2006). [http://ebeltz.net/herps/biogappx.html#D Biographies of People Honored in the Herpetological Nomenclature in North America]  *Hibbitts, Toby J.; Vaughan, R. Kathryn; Sites, Jack W. Jr; Fitzgerald, Lee A. (2018). "James Ray Dixon (1928–2015)". ''Herpetological Review'' '''49''' (1): 168–174. *[[:fr:John Douglas Lynch|Lynch JD]] (1991). "Three replacement names for preoccupied names in the genus ''Eleutherodactylus''(Amphibia: Leptodactylidae)". ''Copeia'' '''1991''': 1138–1139. *{{cite journal|author1=McAllister, Chris T. |author2=Forstner, Michael R.J. |title=In Memoriam: James Ray Dixon, A Texas Herpetological Icon (1928–2015)|year=2015|journal=Herpetological Conservation and Biology|volume=10|issue=1|pages=1–125|url=http://www.herpconbio.org/Volume_10/Issue_1/McAllister_Forstner_2015.pdf}} *Rivero-Blanco C, Lancini AR (1968) (1967). "Phyllodactylus dixoni: ''una nueva especie de lagarto (Sauria: Gekkoninae) de Venezuela'' ". ''Memoria de la Sociedad de Ciencias Naturales La Salle'' '''78''': 168−175. (in Spanish). *Scudday JF (1973). "A New Species of Lizard of the ''Cnemidophorus tesselatus'' Group from Texas". ''Journal of Herpetology'' '''7''' (4): 363–371. *[[Hobart Muir Smith|Smith HM]], Smith RB (1973). ''Synopsis of the Herpetofauna of Mexico, Vol. II: Analysis of the Literature Exclusive of the Mexican Axolotl''. Augusta, West Virginia: Eric Lundberg. xxxiii + 367 pp. *[https://web.archive.org/web/20060201055559/http://wfscnet.tamu.edu/tcwc/tcwc.htm Texas Cooperative Wildlife Collection]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dixon, James R.}} [[Category:American herpetologists]] [[Category:1928 births]] [[Category:2015 deaths]] [[Category:American biologists]] [[Category:Howard Payne University alumni]] [[Category:Texas A&M University alumni]] [[Category:20th-century American zoologists]] [[Category:Scientists from Houston]] [[Category:People from El Campo, Texas]]