René Lesson

René Primevère Lesson (20 March 1794 – 28 April 1849) was a French surgeon, naturalist, ornithologist, and herpetologist.

He was born at Rochefort, and entered the Naval Medical School in Rochefort at the age of sixteen. He served in the French Navy during the Napoleonic Wars; in 1811 he was third surgeon on the frigate Saale, and in 1813 was second surgeon on the Regulus.

In 1816 Lesson changed his classification to pharmacist. He served on Duperrey's round-the-world voyage of La Coquille (1822–25), of which he collected natural history specimens with his fellow surgeon Prosper Garnot and officer Dumont d'Urville. During his visits to the Moluccas and New Guinea, Lesson became the first naturalist to see birds of paradise in the wild.

On returning to Paris, he spent seven years preparing the section on vertebrates for the official account of the expedition: "Voyage autour du monde entrepris par ordre du Gouvernement sur la corvette La Coquille" (published from 1826 to 1839). During this time period, he also produced "Manuel d'Ornithologie" (1828), "Traité d'Ornithologie" (1831), "Centurie Zoologique" (1830–32) and "Illustrations de Zoologie" (1832–35). Lesson also published several monographs on hummingbirds and one book on birds of paradise:

• Histoire naturelle des oiseaux-mouches. ouvrage orné de planches... (1829-1831).
• Histoire naturelle des Colibris suivie d'un supplement a l'histoire naturelle des oiseaux-mouches (1831–32).
• Les trochilidées ou les colibris et les oiseaux-mouches (1832).
• Histoire naturelle des oiseaux de paradis et des épimaques; ouvrage orné de planches, dessinées et gravées par les meilleurs artistes (1835).

In the field of herpetology he described many new species of amphibians and reptiles.

From 1831, he served as a professor of pharmacy, and following a series of promotions, became the top-ranking naval pharmacist at Rochefort (1835). His experience as a ship's surgeon resulted in his two-volume "Manuel d'histoire naturelle medicale, et de pharmacographie" (1833), intended as a handbook for naval surgeons.

He became a corresponding member of the Académie de Médecine in 1828, later becoming a correspondent of the Académie des Sciences (1833). He received the Légion d'honneur in 1847.

René Primevère Lesson is sometimes confused with his brother, Pierre Adolphe Lesson (1805-1888), who participated on the Astrolabe expedition (as the Coquille had been renamed) in 1826-29, under the command of Jules Dumont d'Urville.

listed in the order they were described (only species still recognized are listed)

• Litoria aurea (Lesson, 1826) as Rana aurea (green and golden bell frog)
• Pleurodema thaul (Lesson, 1826) as Bufo thaul (Chile four-eyed frog)
• Hylarana papua (Lesson, 1826) as Rana papua (Papua River frog)
• Scincus cyanurus now Emoia cyanura (Lesson, 1826) (copper-tailed Emo skink)
• Hinulia smaragdina now Lamprolepis smaragdina (Lesson, 1826) (emerald tree skink)
• Calotes chiliensis now Liolaemus chiliensis (Lesson, 1826) (Chilean tree lizard)
• Scincus noctua now Lipinia noctua (Lesson, 1826) (moth skink)
• Scincus atrocostatus now Emoia atrocostata (Lesson, 1830) (mangrove skink)
• Scincus cyanogaster now Emoia cyanogaster (Lesson, 1830) (green-bellied Emo skink)
• Lophurus brasiliensis now Enyalius brasiliensis (Lesson, 1830) (Brazilian fathead anole)
• Gecko oceanicus now Gehyra oceanica (Lesson, 1830) (oceanic gecko)
• Stellio peruvianus now Microlophus peruvianus (Lesson, 1830) (Peruvian coastal lizard)
• Coluber ikaheka now Micropechis ikaheka (Lesson, 1830) (New Guinea small-eyed snake)
• Naja kaouthia Lesson, 1831 (monocled cobra)
• Crocodylus palustris Lesson, 1831 (mugger crocodile)
• Euphlyctis hexadactylus (Lesson, 1834) as Rana hexadactylus (Indian bullfrog)
• Draco bourouniensis Lesson, 1834 (Buru flying lizard)

listed in the order they were described (only species still recognized are listed)

• Rana esculenta var. lessonae now Pelophylax lessonae (Camerano, 1882) (pool frog)
• Diploglossus lessonae Peracca, 1890 (Brazilian galliwasp)
• Agama lessonae now Tapelus lessonae (De Filippi, 1865) (Lesson’s ground agama)