Gérard Paul Deshayes facts for kids

Gérard Paul Deshayes (born May 13, 1795 – died June 9, 1875) was a French scientist. He was a geologist, which means he studied the Earth's rocks and history. He was also a conchologist, someone who studies molluscs, especially their shells.

A Life of Science

Gérard Paul Deshayes was born in Nancy, France in 1795. His father was a physics professor there.

He first studied medicine in Strasbourg. Later, he earned a degree in literature in Paris in 1821. However, he decided not to become a doctor. Instead, he chose to focus on natural history, which is the study of living things and nature.

For some time, he taught private lessons about geology. Later, he became a professor of natural history at the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris. This is a famous museum in France.

Studying Ancient Shells

Deshayes was well-known for his research on fossil molluscs. These are the ancient shells of creatures found in the Paris Basin and other areas. The Paris Basin is a large area of land in France where many fossils are found.

His studies helped him understand how fossil species were related to living species. As early as 1829, he came up with ideas similar to those of Charles Lyell. Lyell was another famous geologist. Deshayes helped Lyell classify the Earth's history into different periods. These periods included the Eocene, Miocene, and Pliocene epochs. These are parts of the Cenozoic Era, which is the current geological era.

Important Books

Deshayes worked with André Étienne d'Audebert de Férussac on a big project. They wrote an important book about land and river molluscs. It was called Histoire naturelle générale et particulière des Mollusques terrestres et fluviatiles. This means "General and Specific Natural History of Land and River Molluscs." It was published between 1820 and 1851.

In 1839, he started publishing his own major work. It was called Traité élémentaire de conchyliologie, which means "Elementary Treatise on Conchology." The last part of this book came out in 1857.

Explorations and Recognition

In 1839, the French government sent Deshayes to Algeria. He spent three years exploring that country. He collected many specimens there. His main work from these collections was Mollusques de l'Algérie, published in 1848.

He was a member of the Société Géologique de France, a French geological society. He even served as its chairman several times. In 1870, he received the Wollaston Medal. This is a very important award from the Geological Society of London. Gérard Paul Deshayes passed away in Boran-sur-Oise in 1875.

Key Publications

Here are some of the important books and studies by Gérard Paul Deshayes:

• Description des coquilles fossiles des environs de Paris (1824-1837) - This book described fossil shells found near Paris.
• Traité élémentaire de conchyliologie avec les applications de cette science à la geologie. (1839-1857) - This was his major work on the study of shells and how it relates to geology.
  • Part 1 - Introduction
  • Part 2
  • Explanation of plates
  • Atlas of plates
• Description des animaux sans vertèbres découverts dans le bassin de Paris (1856-1866) - This work described invertebrates (animals without backbones) found in the Paris Basin.

Animals Named by Deshayes

Gérard Paul Deshayes named many species during his career. One example is:

• Bursa lamarckii - also known as Lamarck's frog shell.