John Edward Gray | |
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Born | 12 February 1800 Walsall, Staffordshire, England |
Died | 7 March 1875 London, England | (aged 75)
Resting place | St Mary's Church, Lewisham |
Known for | Classification of many cetacean species, genera, subfamilies, and families |
Spouse | |
Parent | Samuel Frederick Gray |
Relatives | George Robert Gray (brother) |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Zoology |
Institutions | British Museum, Natural History Museum |
Author abbrev. (botany) | J.E.Gray |
Author abbrev. (zoology) | Gray or J. E. Gray |
Signature | |
John Edward Gray FRS (12 February 1800 – 7 March 1875) was a British zoologist. He was the elder brother of zoologist George Robert Gray and son of the pharmacologist and botanist Samuel Frederick Gray (1766–1828). The standard author abbreviation J.E.Gray is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name.[1] The same is used for a zoological name.
Gray was keeper of zoology at the British Museum in London from 1840 until Christmas 1874, before the natural history holdings were split off to the Natural History Museum. He published several catalogues of the museum collections that included comprehensive discussions of animal groups and descriptions of new species. He improved the zoological collections to make them amongst the best in the world.