Arthur Loveridge was a British biologist and herpetologist who wrote about animals in East Africa, particularly Tanzania

Tanzania

The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...

, and New Guinea. He gave the scientific name to several gecko species in the region.

Arthur Loveridge was born in Penarth, and was interested in natural history from childhood. He gained experience with the National Museum of Wales

National Museum Cardiff

National Museum Cardiff is a museum and art gallery in Cardiff, Wales. The museum is part of the wider network of Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales...

 and Manchester Museum

Manchester Museum

The Manchester Museum is owned by the University of Manchester. Sited on Oxford Road at the heart of the university's group of neo-Gothic buildings, it provides access to about six million items from every continent and serves both as a resource for academic research and teaching and as a regional...

 before becoming the curator of the Nairobi Museum (now the National Museum of Kenya

National Museums of Kenya

The National Museums of Kenya is a State Corporation that manages Museums, Sites and Monuments in Kenya. It also practices scientific research. Its headquarters and the National Museum are located on Museum Hill, near Uhuru Highway between Central Business District and Westlands in Nairobi...

) in 1914. During WW1

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, he joined the East African Mounted Rifles, later returning to the museum to build up the collections. He then became an assistant game warden in Tanganyika

Tanganyika

Tanganyika , later formally the Republic of Tanganyika, was a sovereign state in East Africa from 1961 to 1964. It was situated between the Indian Ocean and the African Great Lakes of Lake Victoria, Lake Malawi and Lake Tanganyika...

.

In 1924, he joined the Museum of Comparative Zoology

Museum of Comparative Zoology

The Museum of Comparative Zoology, full name "The Louis Agassiz Museum of Comparative Zoology", often abbreviated simply to "MCZ", is a zoology museum located on the grounds of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is one of three museums which collectively comprise the Harvard Museum...

 in the grounds of Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

 in Cambridge, Massachusetts

Cambridge, Massachusetts

Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...

, where he was the curator of herpetology. He returned to East Africa on several field trips and wrote many scientific papers before retiring from Harvard in 1957.

He married Mary Victoria Sloane in 1921, who died in 1972. They had one son.

On retirement, they moved to Saint Helena

Saint Helena

Saint Helena , named after St Helena of Constantinople, is an island of volcanic origin in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the British overseas territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha which also includes Ascension Island and the islands of Tristan da Cunha...

in the South Atlantic, from where he continued his interest in natural history, publishing several articles on the island's wildlife in the St Helena Wirebird and St Helena News Review in the 1960s & 1970s. He died in 1980. and was buried in St Helena next to his wife.

Partial bibliography

• Allen, Glover M & Loveridge, Arthur, Mammals from the Uluguru and Usambara Mountains, Tanganyika Territory in Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History, Vol 38, No 9, Boston, 1927.
• Barbour, T & Loveridge, A, A Comparative Study of the Herpeteologica Faunae of the Ukuguru and Usambara Mountains, Tanganyika Territory, With Descriptions of New Species in Memoirs of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College, Vol. L, No. 2, 1928.
• Coward, TA, Observations on the Nesting Habits of the Palm Swift (Tachornis parva, Licht) made by Mr Arthur Loveridge in German East Africa in Memoirs and Proceedings of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society, Session 1916-1917, Vol 61, Part II, Manchester, 1917.
• Gans, Carl, In Memoriam: Arthur Loveridge in Herpetologica, Vol 37, No. 2, 1981.
• Green, AA (editor), Obituary: The Late Professor Arthur Loveridge in St. Helena News Review, Vol XII, No. 2098, 22 February 1980.
• Loveridge, Arthur, East African Reptiles and Amphibians in the United States National Museum : United States National Museum: Bulletin 151, Washington, Smithsonian Institution, 1929.
• Loveridge, Arthur, Field Notes on Vertebrates Collected by the Smithsonian-Chrysler East African Expedition of 1926 in Proceedings of the United States National Museum, Vol 73, Article 17, No 2738, Washington, 1928.
• Loveridge, Arthur, Forest Safari", London, Lutterworth Press, 1956.
• Loveridge, Arthur, I Drank the Zambezi, London, Lutterworth Press, 1953.
• Loveridge, Arthur, A List of the Amphibia of the British Territories in East Africa (Uganda, Kenya Colony, Tanganyika Territory and Zanzibar), Together with Keys for the Diagnosis of the Species in Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, London, 1930.
• Loveridge, Arthur, A List of the Lizards of British Territories in East Africa (Uganda, Kenya Colony, Tanganyika Territory, and Zanzibar) With Keys for the Diagnosis of the Species in Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, London, 1923.
• Loveridge, Arthur, The Lizards of Tanganyika Territory, Dar es Salaam, The Government Printer.
• Loveridge, Arthur, Many Happy Days I've Squandered, London, Robert Hale, 1949 .
• Loveridge, Arthur, Notes on East African Birds (Chiefly Nesting Habits and Endo-Parasites), Collected 1920-1923 in Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, London, 1923.
• Loveridge, Arthur, Notes on East African Lizards Collected 1920-1923, with the Description of Two New Races of Agama Lionotus in Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, London, 1923.
• Loveridge, Arthur, Notes on East African Mammals, Collected 1915-1922 in Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, London, 1923.
• Loveridge, Arthur, Notes on East African Mammals, Collected 1920-1923 in Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, London, 1923.
• Loveridge, Arthur, Notes on East African Scorpions and Solifugae, Collected 1916-1923 in Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, London, 1925.
• Loveridge, Arthur, Notes on East African Snakes, Collected 1918-1923 in Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, London, 1923.
• Loveridge, Arthur, Notes on East African Tortoises, Collected 1920-1923, with the Description of a New Species of Soft Land Tortoise in Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, London, 1923.
• Loveridge, Arthur, Notes on the Three British Ophidia in Transactions of the Cardiff Naturalist's Society, Vol XLVI, Cardiff, 1913.
• Loveridge, Arthur, On Natrix Olivacea (Peters), From Pemba Island, and Other Notes on Reptiles and A. Muraenid Fish in Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, London, 1925.
• Loveridge, Arthur, Preliminary Description of a New Tree Viper of the Genus Atheris from Tanganyika Territory in Proceedings of the New England Zoological Club, Vol XI, 1930.
• Loveridge, Arthur, Rambles in Search of Frogs in Equatoria in Harvard Alumni Bulletin, Cambridge, 1935.
• Loveridge, Arthur, Reptiles of the Pacific World (re-edition in 1946 and reimprint in 1957), 1945.
• Loveridge, Arthur, A Scientist's Trip to Eastern Africa in Harvard Alumni Bulletin, 30 October 1930, Cambridge, 1930.
• Loveridge, Arthur, A Serpent-Seeking Safaria in Equatoria in The Scientific Monthly, Vol L & LI, June & July 1940, New York, 1940.
• Loveridge, Arthur, The Snakes of Tanganyika Territory, Dar es Salaam, The Government Printer.
• Loveridge, Arthur, Tomorrow's a Holiday, London, Robert Hale, 1951.