Abstract
In 1816, the noted mammalogist and clergyman John Bachman collected a new cricetid rodent, the marsh rice rat Oryzomys palustris (Harlan, 1838). Because of his demanding schedule, however, he did not draft a description of the animal until 1836, when, prompted by his friend John James Audubon, he submitted a copy to the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia for publication in its Proceedings. Proposing the name Arvicola oryzivora for the rat, he asked the naturalist and associate of the Academy Richard Harlan to compare the skin with a related species described by George Ord in 1825. In a search for the Ord specimen, Harlan discovered an undescribed skin identical to the Bachman specimen. Harlan then claimed the right to discovery of the rat, and published a description of the new species as Mus palustris in 1837 in the American Journal of Science. The unethical deed could not be reversed, but Bachman soon informed others of Harlan’s appropriation of his scientific discovery, and in 1854 he openly charged Harlan with the theft in the description he prepared for the third volume of The Quadrupeds of North America, of which he was coauthor with Audubon. The present account brings together all of the sources related to Harlan’s unscrupulous act.
Acknowledgements
I wish to thank Marie Ellis, my wife and emeritus University of Georgia librarian, for reading the manuscript of this article. I also wish to thank Dr. Steven Castleberry, Professor of Wildlife Ecology and Management, University of Georgia, for his valuable comments on the manuscript.
Recommended Citation
Stephens, Lester D.
(2026)
"Scientific Skulduggery: Richard Harlan's Appropriation of John Bachman's Claim to Discovery of the Marsh Rice Rat,"
Georgia Journal of Science, Vol. 84, No. 2, Article 5.
Available at:
https://journal.georgiaacademyofscience.org/gjs/vol84/iss2/5