Edward Turner Bennett (6 January 1797 – 21 August 1836) was an English zoologist and writer. He was the elder brother of the botanist John Joseph Bennett.[1]
Bennett was born at Hackney and practiced as a surgeon, but his chief pursuit was always zoology. In 1822 he attempted to establish an entomological society, which later became a zoological society in connection with the Linnean Society. This in turn became the starting point of the Zoological Society of London, of which Bennett was Secretary from 1831 to 1836.[2]
His works included The Tower Menagerie (1829) and The Gardens and Menagerie of the Zoological Society (1831). He also wrote, in conjunction with G. T. Lay, the section on Fishes in the Zoology of Beechey's Voyage (1839).
In 1835 he described a new species of African crocodile, Mecistops leptorhynchus, the validity of which was confirmed in 2018.
References
- ^ Bennett, Edward Turner (1797-1836), zoologist by J. C. Edwards in Dictionary of National Biography online (accessed 21 July 2008)
- ^ Mullens, W. H., and H. Kirke Swann. A Bibliography of British Ornithology from the Earliest Times to the End of 1912. London, England: Macmillan, 1917. (Accessed on 5/10/2014.)
External links
- Works by Edward T. Bennett at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about Edward Turner Bennett at Internet Archive
- Bennett, Edward Turner (1830-31) The gardens and menagerie of the Zoological Society..., two volumes
| Preceded by Nicholas Aylward Vigors | Secretary of the Zoological Society of London 1833–1836 | Succeeded by William Yarrell |