For other people with the same name, see
Daniel Elliott.
Daniel Giraud Elliot
Born
(1835-03-07)March 7, 1835
New York City
Died
December 22, 1915(1915-12-22) (aged 80)
New York City
Known for
A Monograph of the Phasianidae, A Monograph of the Paradiseidae or Birds of Paradise, A Monograph of the Felidae or Family of Cats, Review of the Primates
Daniel Giraud Elliot (March 7, 1835 – December 22, 1915) was an American
zoologist and the founder of the American Ornithologist Union.[1]
Life
He was born in
New York City on March 7, 1835, to George and Rebecca Elliot.[2] In 1858, he married Ann Eliza Henderson.
From 1869 to 1879, he was in
London and established strong links to British ornithologists and naturalists.
Elliot used his wealth to publish a series of sumptuous color-plate books on birds and other animals. Elliot wrote the text himself and commissioned artists such as
Joseph Wolf and
Joseph Smit, both of whom had worked for
John Gould, to provide the illustrations. The books included A Monograph of the Phasianidae (Family of the Pheasants) (1870–72), A Monograph of the Paradiseidae or Birds of Paradise (1873),[3]A Monograph of the Felidae or Family of Cats (1878) and Review of the Primates (1913).[4]
In 1890, he was President of the American Ornithologists' Union.[2] Elliot became the first curator of zoology at the
Field Museum in Chicago, and in 1896, accompanied by
Carl Akeley, led the museum's expedition to Somaliland,[5] the first African zoological collecting expedition to be mounted by a North American museum.[6]
He died in New York City on December 22, 1915, of pneumonia.[1]
Legacy
The
National Academy of Sciences awards the
Daniel Giraud Elliot Medal "for meritorious work in zoology or paleontology published in a three- to five-year period. Established through the Daniel Giraud Elliot Fund by gift of Miss Margaret Henderson Elliot."[9]