Object Status:
Unlocated
Accession Date:
January 12, 1796
Primary Source Reference:
Aurora. General Advertiser (Philadelphia), 12 Jan 1796
Notes:
Chameleons or chamaeleons (family Chamaeleonidae) are a distinctive and highly specialized clade of Old World lizards comprising more than 200 species. The Indian chameleon, Chamaeleo zeylanicus, is pictured here.
Maurice Turpin (d. 1796) was a French naturalist and collector. Peale wrote that his death "ought to be considered a public misfortune. First France then America have lost this valuable citizen. Besides being blessed with many amiable qualities he was inspired with a love, nay an enthusiasm for the promotion of the delightful science of Natural History; and his persevering industry to collect subjects in several branches of it was such as few men could equal." Claypoole's American Daily Advertiser (Philadelphia), 15 July 1796.
Specimen Type:
Dead/preserved
Peale's Common Name:
Chameleon
Current Common Name:
Chameleon
Current Scientific Name
Chamaeleonidae
