Bibliotheca Herpetologica 19(5)

Bauer, A. M. 2025. John Hutchison Garnier (1823–1898) and his Contributions to the Herpetology of Ontario. Bibliotheca Herpetologica 19(5):35–56.

John Hutchison Garnier (1823–1898) was a pioneering herpetologist based in the town of Lucknow, Ontario. Some mystery surrounds his birthplace as well as his birthname. Garnier was a physician but spent much of his time hunting and observing wildlife. He built a large private natural history collection by exchanging specimens with correspondents all over the world. Among his papers on amphibians and reptiles was the first list of the herpetofauna of Ontario published in 1881 and augmented in 1882 and 1894. Although his species list was inflated with misidentifications and synonyms, he appears to have recognized 39 of the 50 species of amphibians and reptiles currently accepted as present in the province or recently extirpated. Garnier’s publications included several novel nomina. He described two species of Necturus from Ontario. While one is generally acknowledged and included in the synonymy of N. maculosus, the other has only been cited once in 144 years. Additional new varieties named by Garnier have likewise escaped notice. He also published on the two rattlesnake species in Ontario, including the now extirpated Crotalus horridus, and on treatments for snakebite. Most of Garnier’s work is now forgotten and only 50 Ontario specimens are confirmed as extant from his collection, now housed in the Royal Ontario Museum and the U.S. National Museum of Natural History. His activities as a frontier naturalist in the mid-19^th century represent a starting point for herpetological studies in Ontario.