René Léon Bourret

Who is René Léon Bourret?

René Léon Bourret was a French herpetologist and geologist.

In 1900, he arrived in French Indochina as a member of the military. Beginning in 1907, he worked as a surveyor for the "cadastral survey". From 1919 to 1925 he performed geological surveys in Indochina, becoming a professor in 1925 at the École Supérieure des Sciences, Université Indochinoise in Hanoi. Two years later he released his first zoological publication, a general review on vertebrates native to Indochina.

During the ensuing years he published three major works on herpetofauna native to Indochina; monographs on snakes, chelonians and amphibians. During the Japanese occupation of Indochina, he remained in Hanoi, where he continued regular publications. In 1947 he returned to France and settled in Toulouse. Most of his specimens are preserved in museums in Toulouse and Paris.

The following are herpetological species/subspecies that are named after him:

Bourret's blind skink, Dibamus bourreti

Bourret's box turtle, Cuora bourreti

Bourret's cat snake, Boiga bourreti

Bourret's emo skink, Emoia laobaoense

Bourret's odd-scaled snake, Achalinus ater