Page 10 - The Freshwater Mussels of Oklahoma

UNIONID LITERATURE

This is a brief overview of the literature on unonids and information about some
of the authors. In general, there have been trends in interests and activities that can be
identified in looking at the available literature over the years.

Early Period – 1758 to Early 1800’s

As with most taxonomic studies, we begin with Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1778)
Swedish naturalist and responsible for our basic system of classification and use of
scientific names. The Swedish people say that “God made the plants and animals,
Linnaeus named them.” In addition to his contributions in setting up a classification of
freshwater mussels, he is also credited with naming at least one species found in North
America as well as Eurasia, Margaritifera margaritifera (Linnaeus, 1758).
Jean Baptiste de Lamarck (1744-1829) was well known for his work with
invertebrates and his theory of evolution. He is responsible for naming several North
American unionids, including Potamilus purpuratus (Lamarck, 1819).
Thomas Say (1787-1834), co-founder of the Academy of Natural Sciences of
Philadelphia described numerous unionids, including the common and widespread
Pyganodon grandis (Say, 1829).
Constantine Samuel Rafinesque (1783-1840) was born in Turkey but worked in
Sicily and the United States. He is responsible for naming more North American
unionids than any other individual. He was also known to have been quite eccentric and
much of his work was criticized for being sloppy.
Daniel Henry Barnes (1785-1828) was a Baptist minister and professor of
languages. He was responsible for naming several species common in Oklahoma. He
died in New York when he fell off a stagecoach.

Early 1800’s to 1900

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By the end of the first quarter of the 19 century, many unionid species had been
named and described, but many more, especially in the South, were yet to be discovered.
During this period there were a number of workers that diligently searched for new
mussels and published descriptions. Unfortunately, the species concept was rather weak
at this time and many of these men named and described every minor variation in shell
shape, color or sculpture. Most of these were local variants or often differences due to
growing in different substrates. The result was an avalanche of synonyms that are yet to
be completely sorted out. Among the more productive writers of the times were:
Isaac Lea (1792-1886) left his collections to the U. S. National Museum and the
Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. He was probably the most prolific author
of freshwater mollusks of the period.
Timothy A. Conrad (1803-1877) worked with the Smithsonian Institute and was
responsible for describing many species of living and fossil mollusks.

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