James D. Lazell, Jr.

James Draper Lazell, Jr. (born 5 September 1939) is an American biologist and non-fiction author. His research focuses on herpetology and mammalogy.

Biography Lazell is the son of James Draper Lazell, Sr., a businessman, and Katee Quin Lazell, a porcelain restorer. He grew up in a suburb of Philadelphia. He earned a Bachelor of Arts at University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee in 1961, a Master of Science at University of Illinois in 1963, and a Master of Arts at Harvard University in 1966. He received his Ph.D. in 1970 from the University of Rhode Island (URI) with a dissertation on Anolis species of the West Indies. In 1970, he became a research associate at the Massachusetts Audubon Society. From 1966 to 1974, he was a science teacher and department head at the Palfrey Street School in Watertown, Massachusetts. In 1969, he joined the National Park Service and also worked as a herpetologist at the Museum of Comparative Zoology. At age 17, Lazell undertook his first expedition to the West Indies, funded by the Philadelphia Zoo, collecting various Anolis species. Between 1957 and 2014, he visited the West Indies annually. On Guana Island in the British Virgin Islands, he conducted a long-term 30-year study.

Eponymous species Species named in his honor include: Gehyra lazelli Wells & Wellington, 1985 Indotyphlops lazelli Wallach & Pauwels, 2004 Sphaerodactylus lazelli Shreve, 1968

Selected publications The Anoles (Sauria: Iquaridae) of the Lesser Antilles. Harvard University, Museum of Comparative Zoology, 1972. Reptiles and Amphibians in Massachusetts. Massachusetts Audubon Society, 1972. This Broken Archipelago: Cape Cod and the Islands, Amphibians and Reptiles. Quadrangle, 1976. Wildlife of the Florida Keys: A Natural History. Island Press, 1989. (with John Alexander) Ribbons of Sand: The Amazing Convergence of the Ocean and the Outer Banks. Algonquin Books, 1992. Island – Fact and Theory in Nature. University of California Press, 2005.