Edward Bagnall Poulton

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For other people named Edward Poulton, see Edward Poulton (disambiguation).

Sir Edward Bagnall Poulton
Sir Edward Bagnall Poulton
Photograph by James Lafayette
Born(1856-01-27)27 January 1856
Died20 November 1943(1943-11-20) (aged 87)
NationalityEnglish
Alma materJesus College, Oxford
Known forAposematism, frequency-dependent selection, camouflage
AwardsLinnean Medal (1922)
Hope Professor of Zoology
Scientific career
FieldsEvolutionary biology
InstitutionsUniversity of Oxford

Sir Edward Bagnall Poulton,

sympatric for evolution of species in the same place, and in his book The Colours of Animals (1890) was the first to recognise frequency-dependent selection. He is remembered for his pioneering work on animal coloration and camouflage, and in particular for inventing the term aposematism for warning coloration. He became Hope Professor of Zoology at the University of Oxford in 1893.[2]

Life

Edward Poulton was born in Reading, Berkshire on 27 January 1856, the son of the architect William Ford Poulton and his wife, Georgina Sabrina Bagnall. He was educated at Oakley House School in Reading,[3] which he described as having mainly nonconformist pupils.[1]

Between 1873 and 1876, Poulton studied at

John Obadiah Westwood, graduating with a first-class degree in natural science.[4] He maintained an unbroken connection with the college for seventy years as scholar, lecturer and Fellow (appointed to a fellowship in 1898) until his death. He was a generous benefactor to Jesus College, providing silver for the high table and redecorating the Old Bursary amongst other donations.[5]

He was knighted by King George V in 1935. Poulton died in Oxford on 20 November 1943.

Career

Further information: The Colours of Animals
The Colours of Animals, 1890, introduced terms including "aposematic".

Poulton was a Darwinist, believing in natural selection as the primary force in evolution. His 1890 book, The Colours of Animals, introduced the concepts of frequency-dependent selection and aposematic coloration, as well as supporting Darwin's then unpopular theories of natural selection and sexual selection.[6] He conducted a range of experiments on the colours of polymorphic caterpillars to examine if food, background or other factors are involved in their colour changes. He was able to show that the caterpillars were sensitive to the background colours and that it was perceived even when they were blinded, and was among the earliest to suggest extraocular photoreception.[7]

Poulton enlarged the Hope entomological collections with his catches in the field which earned him the nickname of "Bag-all" Poulton. Many of the specimens are unmounted and held in biscuit tins.[8]

In his 1896 book Charles Darwin and the Theory of Natural Selection, Poulton described Darwin's On the Origin of Species as "incomparably the greatest work" that the biological sciences had seen. Critics of natural selection, Poulton contended, had not taken the time to understand it.[9]

Poulton, along with

eclipse of Darwinism, when it was denigrated.[10] There was a long debate between Poulton and the geneticist Reginald Punnett, one of Bateson's disciples. Punnett's 1915 Mimicry in butterflies rejected selection as the main cause of mimicry, while Poulton supported it. Further, Poulton's 1908 Essays on Evolution opposed genetics on the grounds that "Mendelism" was an obstacle to evolutionary thought; but he changed his mind and came to support the work of the Genetical Society.[11]

Warning coloration of the "Brazilian Skunk" in The Colours of Animals: Poulton introduced the term aposematism in the book.

Poulton's Presidential Address to the

R.A. Fisher and Julian Huxley was vitally important for showing the relationships between Mendelism and natural selection. The observations and experiments of many biologists had "immensely strengthened and confirmed" the researches on mimicry and warning colours of pioneers like Bates, Wallace, Meldola, Trimen and Müller.[12]

Family

Entomological Society
in 1904 (sitting, centre)

Poulton lived with his family at 56

Ronald Poulton-Palmer played international rugby for England and was killed in May 1915 in World War I. His first daughter Hilda married Dr Ernest Ainsley-Walker and died in 1917. His youngest daughter, Janet Palmer, married Charles Symonds in 1915 and died in 1919.[14]

Legacy

Poulton is remembered as an early originator of the

sympatric in relation to species.[18]

Published works

Wikisource has original works by or about:
Edward Bagnall Poulton

Poulton had over 200 publications spanning over sixty years.

  • 1890.
    Kegan Paul
    , London.
  • 1896. Charles Darwin and the Theory of Natural Selection. Cassell, London.
  • 1904. What is a Species? (Presidential address to the
    Entomological Society of London
    , January 1904) Proceedings of the Entomological Society of London, 1903.
  • 1908. Essays on Evolution. London, Cassell.
  • 1909. Charles Darwin and the Origin of species; addresses, etc., in America and England in the year of the two anniversaries[19]
  • 1915. Science and the Great War: The
    Clarendon Press
    , Oxford.

Awards and honours

See also

  • Hugh Cott
    )

References

  1. ^
    doi:10.1098/rsbm.1944.0014
    .
  2. ^ "POULTON, Edward Bagnall". Who's Who. Vol. 59. 1907. p. 1421.
  3. ISBN 0-902-198-84-X. Archived from the original
    (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  4. ^ Carpenter, G. D. H. "Poulton, Sir Edward Bagnall (1856–1943)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online, free). Oxford University Press. Retrieved 18 July 2007.
  5. ^ Baker, J.N.L. (1971). Jesus College 1571 – 1971. p. 68.
  6. ^ Mallet, Jim. "E.B. Poulton (1890)". University College London. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
  7. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2311.1892.tb02973.x
    .
  8. ^ Salmon, Michael A. (2000). The Aurelian Legacy. Harley Books. pp. 187–188.
  9. ^ Poulton, E.B. (1896). Charles Darwin and the Theory of Natural Selection. Cassell.
  10. ISBN 978-0-8018-4391-4
    .
  11. ^ Crew, F. A. E. (1969). "Recollections of the Early Days of the Genetical Society" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 September 2022. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
  12. JSTOR 24204999
    .
  13. ISBN 978-0-14-071045-8
    .
  14. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/31744. Retrieved 11 June 2008. (Subscription or UK public library membership
    required.)
  15. ^ Poulton E.B. 1904. What is a species? (Presidential address to the Entomological Society of London) 'Proceedings of the Entomological Society of London (revised version in Poulton E.B. Essays on Evolution. 1889–1907. Clarendon Press, Oxford. pp. 46–94)
  16. ^ Poulton, E.B. (1938). "The conception of species as interbreeding communities". Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London. 150 (4): 225–226.
  17. S2CID 86041887
    .
  18. ^ Mayr, Ernst (1942). Systematics and origin of species. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 148.
  19. S2CID 26879402
    .
  20. ^ "Lists of Royal Society Fellows 1660–2007". London: The Royal Society. Archived from the original on 24 March 2010. Retrieved 14 July 2010.
  21. ^ "No. 34119". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 December 1934. pp. 1–2.
    "No. 34135". The London Gazette. 22 February 1935. p. 1269.

External links

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