John Anderson


1833 - 1900

Zoologist. Born in Edinburgh, Anderson studied medicine before departing for India in 1861. In 1865, he became the first curator of the Indian Museum in Calcutta, holding the post until 1887. He took part in expeditions to Burma and China in 1868, followed by a second expedition to the same area in 1875. These expeditions, together with his work on dolphins, gave rise to his Anatomical and Zoological Researches; comprising an account of zoological results of two expeditions to Western Yunnan in 1868 and 1875; and a monograph of the two cetacean genera, Platanista and Orcella (1878), noted for its fine plates of Asian turtles. He also published a Herpetology of Arabia (1896) and a Zoology of Egypt (1898).

He returned to Britain in 1886. He died in Buxton (Derbyshire, England) but is buried Dean Cemetery (Edinburgh).


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