Charles Davies Sherborn

Charles Davies Sherborn was an English bibliographer, paleontologist and geologist. His magnum opus was the compilation of the Index Animalium, an 11-volume, 9,000-page work that catalogued the 444,000 names of every living and extinct animal discovered between 1758 and 1850. This work is considered the bibliographic foundation for zoological nomenclature. In addition, Sherborn authored almost 200 books, papers, and catalogs on a wide variety of topics in natural history. He made important contributions to the study of microfossils and was a founding member and first president of the Society for the Bibliography of Natural History. In recognition of his endeavours he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Oxford University.