Clifford H. Pope
Encyclopedia
Cliford Hillhouse Pope was a noted American herpetologist. He was the son of Mark Cooper Pope and Harriett Alexander (Hull) Pope, and grew up in Washington, Georgia. Shortly after his graduation from the University of Virginia
, Pope went to the Tropical Research Station at British Guiana
, maintained by William Beebe
. Later, he spent many years in China with expeditions of the American Museum of Natural History
, accompanying Roy Chapman Andrews
on the expedition to the Gobi desert
that first discovered fossilized dinosaur eggs. Pope mastered the Chinese language and made a total of eight expeditions in Chinese terriroty prior to 1930. In China he gave scientific names for the Kuatun Horned Toad
, Hyla sanchiangensis
, Amolops chunganensis
, Rana fukienensis
, and others. He also did a great deal of work with Karl Patterson Schmidt
. Pope worked at the American Museum of Natural History from 1921-1934. He was president and journal editor of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists
in 1935.
In 1927, the Boy Scouts of America
made Pope an Honorary Scout, a new category of Scout created that same year. This distinction was give to "American citizens whose achievements in outdoor activity, exploration and worthwhile adventure are of such an exceptional character as to capture the imagination of boys...". The other eighteen who were awarded this distinction were: Roy Chapman Andrews
; Robert Bartlett; Frederick Russell Burnham
; Richard E. Byrd; George Kruck Cherrie
; James L. Clark
; Merian C. Cooper
; Lincoln Ellsworth
; Louis Agassiz Fuertes
; George Bird Grinnell
; Charles A. Lindbergh; Donald B. MacMillan
; George Palmer Putnam
; Kermit Roosevelt
; Carl Rungius; Stewart Edward White
; Orville Wright.
Starting in 1941 Pope worked at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, Illinois, as Curator, Division of Amphibians and Reptiles, where his field efforts focused on plethodontid salamanders in Mexico, California, and the eastern United States. Pope and Archie Carr greatly expanded the knowledge of North American turtles, and Pope was one of the first herpetologists to write factually about the giant snakes for the general public. Pope is the author of many books including Snakes Alives and How They Live (1937), Turtles of the United States and Canada (1939), China’s Animal Frontier (1940), The Reptile World (1955) and The Giant Snakes (1961). The Pope's Tree Viper (Trimeresurus popeorum) is named in honor of Pope and his wife Sarah H. Pope. A well-known quote from Pope is that "snakes are first cowards, then bluffers, and last of all warriors."
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
, Pope went to the Tropical Research Station at British Guiana
British Guiana
British Guiana was the name of the British colony on the northern coast of South America, now the independent nation of Guyana.The area was originally settled by the Dutch at the start of the 17th century as the colonies of Essequibo, Demerara, and Berbice...
, maintained by William Beebe
William Beebe
William Beebe, born Charles William Beebe was an American naturalist, ornithologist, marine biologist, entomologist, explorer, and author...
. Later, he spent many years in China with expeditions of the American Museum of Natural History
American Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History , located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States, is one of the largest and most celebrated museums in the world...
, accompanying Roy Chapman Andrews
Roy Chapman Andrews
Roy Chapman Andrews was an American explorer, adventurer and naturalist who became the director of the American Museum of Natural History. He is primarily known for leading a series of expeditions through the fragmented China of the early 20th century into the Gobi Desert and Mongolia...
on the expedition to the Gobi desert
Gobi Desert
The Gobi is a large desert region in Asia. It covers parts of northern and northwestern China, and of southern Mongolia. The desert basins of the Gobi are bounded by the Altai Mountains and the grasslands and steppes of Mongolia on the north, by the Hexi Corridor and Tibetan Plateau to the...
that first discovered fossilized dinosaur eggs. Pope mastered the Chinese language and made a total of eight expeditions in Chinese terriroty prior to 1930. In China he gave scientific names for the Kuatun Horned Toad
Kuatun Horned Toad
The Kuatun Horned Toad is a species of amphibian in the Megophryidae family.It is found in China and Vietnam....
, Hyla sanchiangensis
Hyla sanchiangensis
Hyla sanchiangensis is a species of frog in the Hylidae family.It is endemic to China.Its natural habitats are temperate forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist montanes, freshwater marshes, intermittent freshwater marches, and irrigated land.It is...
, Amolops chunganensis
Amolops chunganensis
Amolops chunganensis is a species of frog in the Ranidae family.It is found in China, Vietnam, and possibly Myanmar.Its natural habitats are temperate forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, and rivers.It is not considered threatened by...
, Rana fukienensis
Rana fukienensis
Pelophylax fukienensis is a species of frog in the Ranidae family. It is found in China and Taiwan.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist montanes, swamps, freshwater marshes, rural gardens, heavily degraded former forest, water storage...
, and others. He also did a great deal of work with Karl Patterson Schmidt
Karl Patterson Schmidt
Karl Patterson Schmidt was an American herpetologist.-Biography:Schmidt was the son of George W. Schmidt and Margaret Patterson Schmidt. Schmidt's father was a German professor who, at the time of Schmidt's birth, was teaching in Lake Forest, Illinois. His family left the city in 1907 and settled...
. Pope worked at the American Museum of Natural History from 1921-1934. He was president and journal editor of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists
American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists
The American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists is an international organization devoted to the scientific studies of ichthyology and herpetology...
in 1935.
In 1927, the Boy Scouts of America
Boy Scouts of America
The Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with over 4.5 million youth members in its age-related divisions...
made Pope an Honorary Scout, a new category of Scout created that same year. This distinction was give to "American citizens whose achievements in outdoor activity, exploration and worthwhile adventure are of such an exceptional character as to capture the imagination of boys...". The other eighteen who were awarded this distinction were: Roy Chapman Andrews
Roy Chapman Andrews
Roy Chapman Andrews was an American explorer, adventurer and naturalist who became the director of the American Museum of Natural History. He is primarily known for leading a series of expeditions through the fragmented China of the early 20th century into the Gobi Desert and Mongolia...
; Robert Bartlett; Frederick Russell Burnham
Frederick Russell Burnham
Frederick Russell Burnham, DSO was an American scout and world traveling adventurer known for his service to the British Army in colonial Africa and for teaching woodcraft to Robert Baden-Powell, thus becoming one of the inspirations for the founding of the international Scouting Movement.Burnham...
; Richard E. Byrd; George Kruck Cherrie
George Kruck Cherrie
George Kruck Cherrie was an American naturalist and explorer.Cherrie was born in Iowa. He took part in about forty expeditions, mostly to Central and South America, including Theodore Roosevelt's South American Expedition of 1913–1914, when Cherrie was collecting specimens for the American Museum...
; James L. Clark
James L. Clark
James L. Clark was a distinguished explorer and scientist of the American Museum of Natural History in New York and a former president of the Campfire Club of America. He was co-director of the Morden-Clark Asiatic expedition and for a number of years he was with Carl Akeley in Africa...
; Merian C. Cooper
Merian C. Cooper
Merian Caldwell Cooper was an American aviator, United States Air Force and Polish Air Force officer, adventurer, screenwriter, and film director and producer. His most famous film was the 1933 movie King Kong.-Early life:...
; Lincoln Ellsworth
Lincoln Ellsworth
Lincoln Ellsworth was an arctic explorer from the United States.-Birth:He was born on May 12, 1880 to James Ellsworth and Eva Frances Butler in Chicago, Illinois...
; Louis Agassiz Fuertes
Louis Agassiz Fuertes
Louis Agassiz Fuertes was an American ornithologist, illustrator and artist.-Biography:Fuertes was the son of Estevan and Mary Stone Perry Fuertes....
; George Bird Grinnell
George Bird Grinnell
George Bird Grinnell was an American anthropologist, historian, naturalist, and writer. Grinnell was born in Brooklyn, New York, and graduated from Yale University with a B.A. in 1870 and a Ph.D. in 1880. Originally specializing in zoology, he became a prominent early conservationist and student...
; Charles A. Lindbergh; Donald B. MacMillan
Donald B. MacMillan
Donald Baxter MacMillan was an American explorer, sailor, researcher and lecturer who made over 30 expeditions to the Arctic during his 46-year career...
; George Palmer Putnam
George Palmer Putnam
George Palmer Putnam was an important American book publisher.-Biography:Putnam was born in Brunswick, Maine. On moving to New York City, Putnam was given his first job by Jonathan Leavitt, who subsequently published Putnam's first book...
; Kermit Roosevelt
Kermit Roosevelt
Kermit Roosevelt I MC was a son of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt. He was an explorer on two continents with his father, a graduate of Harvard University, a soldier serving in two world wars, with both the British and U.S. Armies, a businessman, and a writer...
; Carl Rungius; Stewart Edward White
Stewart Edward White
Stewart Edward White was an American author.-Biography:Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan he attended Grand Rapids High School, and earned degrees from University of Michigan ....
; Orville Wright.
Starting in 1941 Pope worked at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, Illinois, as Curator, Division of Amphibians and Reptiles, where his field efforts focused on plethodontid salamanders in Mexico, California, and the eastern United States. Pope and Archie Carr greatly expanded the knowledge of North American turtles, and Pope was one of the first herpetologists to write factually about the giant snakes for the general public. Pope is the author of many books including Snakes Alives and How They Live (1937), Turtles of the United States and Canada (1939), China’s Animal Frontier (1940), The Reptile World (1955) and The Giant Snakes (1961). The Pope's Tree Viper (Trimeresurus popeorum) is named in honor of Pope and his wife Sarah H. Pope. A well-known quote from Pope is that "snakes are first cowards, then bluffers, and last of all warriors."