Commerson returned to live at Châtillon-les-Dombes, where he occupied himself in creating a
botanical garden in 1758. After the death of his wife in 1764, he moved to Paris.[2]: 93
In 1766, Commerson joined Bougainville on his voyage of circumnavigation after being recommended for the position of naturalist by the Paris Academy of Sciences. He had previously drawn up an extensive programme of nature studies for the Marine Ministry, in which he elaborated the "three natural kingdoms" which a naturalist should investigate on a voyage around the world.[3] Among the wildlife that Commerson observed was a particular kind of
dolphin in the
Strait of Magellan, now known as
Commerson's dolphin (Cephalorhynchus commersonii).[4]
Commerson's partner and assistant,
Jeanne Baré (also referred to Jeanne Baret), accompanied him on the voyage, disguised as a man. Baré acted as a nurse to Commerson, who was often ill, as well as assisting him in his scientific work. Her gender was only publicly discovered while the expedition was at
Tahiti, but she remained with Commerson, nursing him and assisting him in his professional activities until the end of his life.[5]
Commerson was an astute observer of the
Tahitian people and culture, thanks in part to a remarkable lack of
European prejudice compared to other early visitors to the island. Commerson and Bougainville together were responsible for spreading the myth of Tahitians as the embodiment of the concept of the
noble savage.[6]
Commerson also studied and collected plants wherever the expedition stopped; among others, he described the genus Bougainvillea.[7] On the return voyage to France in 1768, he remained behind at
Mauritius (the then-French Isle de France), in order to botanize there and on
Madagascar, an island that fascinated him.
Pierre Sonnerat, who would also become a renowned botanist, was his personal secretary on the Isle de France.[8]
What admirable country Madagascar is! It would merit not a casual observer but entire academies. Madagascar, I may announce to naturalists, is their promised land; it is there that nature seems to have retreated as into a private sanctuary, to work on different models from any she has used elsewhere: The most curious, the most marvellous forms can be found at every step...
The Wrasse[9]Pastel ringwrasse, Hologymnosus doliatus was originally formally
described as Labrus doliatus in 1801 by
Bernard Germain de Lacépède in Volume 5 of his Histoire naturelle des poissons based on a drawing by Commerson.[10] In 1801 Lacépède created the
genusHologymnosus and designated a species, Hologymnosus fasciatus, he had just described as its
type species,[11] this was later shown to be a
synonym of H. doliatus.[12]
Commerson provided the first description of the Ring-tailed cardinalfish (Ostorhinchus aureus) from
Réunion in the western
Indian Ocean, but it was not published in a format allowing full citation. Therefore, the
species name and description by
Bernard Germain de Lacépède (who acknowledged Commerson) takes precedence, albeit with a nod to Commerson.[13]
Gomphosus caeruleus was formally
described in 1801 by Bernard Germain de Lacépède in the third volume of his Histoire naturelle des poissons from
types collected by Commerson. No
type locality was given, but now it is known to be Mauritius.[14]
Commerson died at Mauritius at the age of 45. His extensive collections from the voyage did not, unfortunately, receive their deserved recognition. Although his numerous manuscripts and herbaria were brought to Paris after his death they were never systematically organized and evaluated.[3] Unaware of his death in 1773, the Paris Academy of Sciences elected him as a fellow botanist just a few months later.[2]: 93
In 1801, Pomadasys commersonnii was first formally
described as Labrus commersonnii by Lacépède with the
type locality given as Grand golfe de l'Inde, interpreted as rivers of Madagascar.[25] The
specific name honors Commerçon, whose name is sometimes spelled Commerson, Lacepède used Commerçon's drawings and notes to base his description on. The specific name argenteus means “silver” and refers to the main colour of this species.[26]
In 1804, The dolphin Commerson's dolphin (Cephalorhynchus commersonii) is named by Lacépède after the French naturalist Commerson, who first described them in 1767 after sighting them in the
Strait of Magellan.[4]
In 1813,
Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire described Commerson's roundleaf bat (Macronycteris commersoni), also known as Commerson's leaf-nosed bat,[30] which is a species of bat
endemic to
Madagascar.[31] It is named after French naturalist Philibert Commerson (1727-1773).[32]
^Christopher Scharpf; Kenneth J. Lazara (10 August 2019).
"Order CARANGIFORMES (Jacks)". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
^Under its accepted name Artocarpus heterophyllus (then as heterophylla) this species was described in Encyclopédie Méthodique, Botanique 3: 209. (1789) by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, from a specimen collected by botanist Commerson. Lamarck said of the fruit that it was coarse and difficult to digest.
Larmarck's original description of tejas. Vol. t.3. Panckoucke;Plomteux. 1789. Retrieved 23 November 2012. On mange la chair de son fruit, ainsi que les noyaux qu'il contient; mais c'est un aliment grossier et difficile à digérer.
^Christopher Scharpf; Kenneth J. Lazara, eds. (5 January 2021).
"Order LUTJANIFORMES: Families HAEMULIDAE and LUTJANIDAE". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
^Christopher Scharpf; Kenneth J. Lazara (10 August 2019).
"Order CARANGIFORMES (Jacks)". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 20 November 2019.