List of biologists - Definition and Overview

This is a list of notable biologists. It includes zoologists, botanists, ornithologists, malacologists, naturalists and other specialities.

Do not add names, unless there is also a biography available.

A

• Humayun Abdulali (1914-2001), Indian ornithologist
• Johann Friedrich Adam (18th cent - 1806), Russian botanist
• Michel Adanson (1727-1806), French naturalist (abbr. in botany : Adans.)
• Louis Agassiz (1807-1873), zoologist
• Alexander Agassiz (1835-1910), zoologist
• William Aiton (1731-1793), Scottish botanist (abbr. in botany : Aiton)
• Boyd Alexander (1973-1910), English ornithologist
• Horace Alexander, (1889-1989), English ornithologist
• Wilfred Backhouse Alexander (1885-1965), English ornithologist
• Alfred William Alcock, (1859-1933), British naturalist
• Salim Ali, (1896-1987), Indian ornithologist
• Frédéric-Louis Allamand (1736 - ? 1803), Swiss botanist (abbr. in botany : F.Allam.)
• Joel Asaph Allen (1838-1921), birds, mammals
• José Alberto de Oliveira Anchieta (1832-1897), Portuguese naturalist
• Jakob Johan Adolf Appellöf (1857-1921), Swedish marine zoologist.
• Aristotle, (384 BC-322 BC), Greek philosopher
• Peter Artedi, (1705-1735), Swedish naturalist
• Jean Baptiste Audebert (1759-1800), French naturalist.
• Jean Victoire Audouin (1797-1841), French zoologist
• John James Audubon, (1786-1851), American ornithologist
• Richard Axel (b. 1946), Nobel prize winning physiologist
• Joseph Ayers, marine neurophysiologist and biomimetic researcher

B

Ba-Be

• Churchill Babington (1831-1881), British archaeologist and conchologist
• John Bachman (1790-1874), American naturalist
• Curt Backeberg (1894-1966), German botanist (abbr. in botany: Backeb.)
• Karl Ernst von Baer (1792-1876), embryology
• Liberty Hyde Bailey (1858-1954),American botanist (abbr. in botany : L.H.Bailey)
• Spencer Fullerton Baird, (1823-1887), birds and mammals
• John Hutton Balfour (1808-1884), Scottish botanist (abbr. in botany : Balf.)
• David Baltimore (1938- ), Nobel prize
• Joseph Banks, (1743-1820), biologist, botanist (abbr. in botany : Banks)
• Benjamin Smith Barton (1766-1815), American botanist (abbr. in botany : Barton)
• John Bartram, (1699-1777), American botanist (abbr. in botany : Bartram)
• William Bartram, (1739-1823), American naturalist (abbr. in botany : W.Bartram)
• Anton de Bary, (1831-1888), surgeon, botanist, microbiologist
• Henry Walter Bates (1825-1892), English naturalist
• Patrick Bateson, biologist, President of the ZSL
• Nicolas Baudin, (1754-1803), French botanist
• Gaspard Bauhin, biologist (abbr. in botany : C.Bauhin)
• Johann Matthäus Bechstein (1757-1822), German naturalist (abbr. in botany : Bechst.)
• Rollo Beck (1870-1950), US ornithologist
• Charles Emerson Beecher (1856-1904), US invertebrate paleontologist
• Charles William Beebe, (1877-1962), biologist
• David Bellamy (born 1933), English botanist
• Edward Turner Bennett, (1797-1836), English zoologist
• George Bentham, (1800-1884), English botanist (abbr; in botany : Benth.)
• Robert Bentley (1821-1893), English botanist (abbr. in botany : Bentley)
• Claude Bernard (1813-1878), French physiologist and father of the concept of homeostasis
• Samuel Stillman Berry (1887-1984), U.S. marine zoologist
• Thomas Bewick (1753-1828), English ornithologist
• Colin Bibby (1948-2004), English ornithologist
• Biswamoy Biswas (1923-1994), Indian ornithologist

Bl-Bu

• Liz Blackburn - Australian/US discoverer of telomeres
• John Blackwall (1790-1881), British entomologist
• Henri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville (1777-1850), French zoologist
• Thomas Blakiston, (1832-1891), English naturalist
• William Thomas Blanford (1832-1905), English naturalist
• Pieter Bleeke (1819-1878), Dutch ichthyologist
• Günter Blobel, German Nobel Prize-winning biologist
• Carl Ludwig Blume (1789-1862), German-Dutch botanist (abbr. in botany : Blume)
• Johann Friedrich Blumenbach (1752-1840), German physiologist and anthropologist
• Edward Blyth, (1810-1873), English zoologist
• Pieter Boddaert, (1730-1795 or 1796), naturalist
• Charles Lucien Bonaparte, (1803-1857), French naturalist
• James Bond (ornithologist) (1900-1989), American ornithologist
• Franco Andrea Bonelli, (1784-1830), Italian ornithologist
• Aimé Bonpland (1773-1858), French botanist (abbr. in botany : Bonpl.)
• Louis Augustin Guillaume Bosc, (1759-1828), French zoologist
• George Albert Boulenger, (1858-1937), Belgian zoologist
• Jules Bourcier (1797-1873), French naturalist
• Johann Friedrich von Brandt, (1802-1879), German naturalist (abbr. in botany : Brandt)
• Christian Ludwig Brehm, (1787-1864), German ornithologist
• Alfred Brehm, (1829-1884), German zoologist
• Thomas Mayo Brewer (1814-1880), American naturalist
• William Brewster (ornithologist) (1851-1919), American ornithologist
• Mathurin Jacques Brisson (1723-1806), French zoologist.
• Nathaniel Lord Britton (1859-1934), US Botanist (abbr. in botany : Britton)
• Adolphe Theodore Brongniart (1801-1876), French botanist (abbr. in botany : Brongn.)
• James H. Brown, American ecologist.
• Robert Brown (botanist), (1773-1858), botanist (abbr. in botany : R.Br.)
• Morten Thrane Brunnich (1737-1827), Danish zoologist
• Stephen L. Buchmann, co-author of Forgotten Pollinators
• Linda B. Buck, (born 1947), American physiologist, Nobel prize winner
• Samuel Botsford Buckley (1809-1884), American naturalist (abbr. in botany : Buckley)
• Buffon (1707-1788) French naturalist (abbr. in botany : Buffon)
• William Bullock (1773-1849), English naturalist
• Walter Buller (1838-1906), New Zealand naturalist
• James Bulwer (1794-1879), English naturalist and conchologist
• Alexander G. von Bunge (1803-1890), German-Russian zoologist
• Luther Burbank, (1849-1926), American horticulturalist

C

• Jean Cabanis, (1816-1906), German ornithologist
• George Caley (1770-1829), English botanist
• Frederick Campion Steward (1904-1993), British botanist
• Augustin Pyrame de Candolle (1778-1841), Swiss botanist
• Elie-Abel Carrière (1818-1896), French botanist
• Rachel Carson, (1907-1964), biologist, author of Silent Spring
• George Washington Carver (1860-1943), US botanist
• John Cassin, (1813-1869), American ornithologist
• Mark Catesby, (1683-1749), English naturalist
• Francesco Cetti, (1726-1778), Italian zoologist
• Min Chueh Chang, (1908-1991), biologist
• Frank Michler Chapman (1864-1945), ornithologist
• Carl Chun (1852-1914), German marine biologist
• Stanley Cohen, biologist
• Henry Boardman Conover (1892-1950), US ornithologist
• James Graham Cooper (1830-1902), American naturalist
• William Cooper (1798-1864), American conchologist
• Edward Drinker Cope (1840-1897), fish, reptiles, paleontology
• Charles B. Cory, (1857-1921), American ornithologist
• Elliott Coues (1842-1899), US ornithologist
• Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer (1907-2004), South African zoologist
• Jacques Cousteau, French marine biologist and explorer
• Philipp Jakob Cretzschmar, (1786-1845), German zoologist
• Francis Crick, (born 1916), DNA scientist
• Allan Cunningham (botanist) (1791-1839), English botanist
• William Curtis (1746-1799), English botanist
• Georges Cuvier, (1769-1832), French naturalist.

D

• Anders Dahl, (1751-1789), (namesake of the Dahlia)
• W.H. Dall (1845-1927), American naturalist and malacologist.
• Charles Darwin, (1809-1882), British evolutionist
• Erasmus Darwin (1731-1802), doctor, naturalist, grandfather of Charles
• Armand David (1826-1900), French zoologist and botanist
• Richard Dawkins, (born 1941), British evolutionary biologist
• Anton de Bary (1831-1888), German botanist and mycologist
• Pierre Antoine Delalande (1787-1823), French naturalist
• Max Delbrück, German biologist
• Richard Dell (1920-2002), New Zealand malacologist.
• Paul Émile de Puydt (1810-1888), Belgian botanist
• Jean Louis Armand de Quatrefages de Breau, French naturalist
• René Louiche Desfontaines (1750-1833), French botanist
• Anselme Gaëtan Desmarest (1784-1838), French zoologist
• Ernst Dieffenbach (1811-1855), German naturalist
• Johann Jacob Dillenius (1684-1747), German botanist
• Theodosius Dobzhansky, (1900-1975), biologist
• Rembert Dodoens (1517-1585), Flemish botanist
• David Don (1799-1841), British botanist
• Alcide d'Orbigny (1802-1857), French naturalist.
• Jean Dorst (1924-2001), French ornithologist
• David Douglas (1799-1834), Scottish botanist
• Jonas C. Dryander, (1748-1810), Swedish botanist
• Renato Dulbecco, biologist
• Robin Dunbar, (born 1947), biologist
• Gerald Durrell (1925-1995), British naturalist
• Leonardo Da Vinci, known as an artist but mostly a biologist. Dissected hundreds of specimens and drew exact copies of it.

E

• Sylvia Earle, biologist
• Gerald Edelman, (born 1929) Nobel Prize for immunology work, later work in neuroscience
• George Edwards (1693-1773), British naturalist
• Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg, (1795-1876), German biologist and microscopist
• Paul Ehrlich, (1854-1915), German Nobel Prize-winning immunologist
• Theodor Eimer (1843-1898), German zoologist
• Daniel Giraud Elliot, (1835-1915), American zoologist
• Stephan Ladislaus Endlicher (1804-1849), Austrian botanist
• George Engelmann (1809-1884), German-American botanist
• Johann Christian Polycarp Erxleben (1744-1777), German naturalist.
• Johann Friedrich von Eschscholtz (1793-1831), Baltic German biologist and explorer, namesake of the California poppy
• Constantin von Ettingshausen (1826-1897), Austrian botanist
• Thomas Campbell Eyton, (1809-1880), English naturalist

F

• Jean Henri Fabre, (1823-1915), French entomologist
• Johan Christian Fabricius, (1745-1808), Danish entomologist
• Hugh Falconer, (1808-1865), Scottish paleontologist
• Leonardo Fea, (1852-1903), Italian zoologist
• Christoph Feldegg (1780-1845), Austrian naturalist
• Howard Barraclough Fell1917-1994), English zoologist
• Otto Finsch (1839-1917), German naturalist
• Johann Fischer von Waldheim (1771-1853), German entomologist
• James Fisher, (1922-1970), English ornithologist
• Ronald Fisher, (1890-1962), British biologist and statistician, one of the founders of population genetics
• Jim Flegg, British ornithologist
• Alexander Fleming, (1881-1955), British medical scientist
• Thomas Bainbrigge Fletcher (?) English entomologist
• Howard Walter Florey, co-inventor of penicillin
• E.B. Ford (1901-1988) British ecological geneticist
• Peter Forsskål (1732-1763), Swedish naturalist
• Georg Forster (1754-1794), German naturalist
• Johann Reinhold Forster (1729-1798), German naturalist
• Robert Fortune (1813-1880), Scottish botanist
• Dian Fossey, (1932-1985), zoologist
• Rosalind Franklin, (1920-1958), contributor to the discovery of the structure of DNA
• Elias Magnus Fries, (1794-1878), (one of the founders of modern mushroom taxonomy)
• Imre Frivaldszky (1799-1870), Hungarian botanist.
• Louis Agassiz Fuertes, (1874-1927), American ornithologist

G

• François Gagnepain (1866-1952), French botanist
• Joseph Paul Gaimard, (1796-1858), French naturalist
• William Gambel (1823-1849), American naturalist
• Prosper Garnot (1794-1838), French naturalist
• Charles Gaudichaud-Beaupré (1789-1854), French botanist
• Howard Scott Gentry (1903-1993), American botanist
• Charles Frédéric Girard, (1822-1895), French biologist, ichthyologist, herpetologist.
• Johann Friedrich Gmelin, (1748-1804), German naturalist (bot. abbr.: J.F.Gmel.)
• Johann Georg Gmelin, (1709-1755), German naturalist (bot. abbr.: J.G.Gmel.)
• Samuel Gottlieb Gmelin, (1744-1774), German botanist (bot. abbr. : S.G.Gmel.)
• Frederick DuCane Godman, (1834-1919), English naturalist and ornithologist
• Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, (1749-1832), (part-time;)
• Jane Goodall, (born 1934), US zoologist
• Philip Henry Gosse, (1810-1888), English naturalist
• John Gould (1804-1881), English ornithologist
• Stephen Jay Gould, (1941-2002), US paleontologist
• Pierre-Paul Grassé (1895-1985), French zoologist
• Asa Gray, (1810-1888), US botanist
• George Robert Gray (1808-1872), English zoologist
• J.E. Gray, (1800-1875), British zoologist
• Andrew Jackson Grayson (1819-1869), American ornithologist
• Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon (1862-1933), British ornithologist
• Pavel Groselj, (1883-1940), biologists and belletrist.
• Felix Edouard Guerin-Meneville (1799-1874), French entomologist
• Johann Anton Güldenstädt (1745-1781), German naturalist
• Johann Ernst Gunnerus (1718-1773), Norwegian botanist
• Albert C. L. G. Günther (1830–1914), British/German zoologist
• Guranda Gvaladze (born 1932), Georgian botanist

H

• Ernst Haeckel (1834-1919), German physician
• Hermann August Hagen (1817-1893), German entomologist
• J. B. S. Haldane (1892-1964), biologist
• Christopher A. Hall
• William Donald Hamilton (1936-2000), British biologist
• Thomas Hardwicke (1755-1835), English naturalist
• Richard Harlan (1796-1843), American naturalist, zoologist, physicist and paleontologist
• Ernst Hartert (1859-1933), German ornithologist
• Gustav Hartlaub (1814-1900), German zoologist
• Hans Hass (born 1919), Austrian biologist
• Frederik Hasselquist (1722-1752), Swedish naturalist
• Arthur Hay, 9th Marquess of Tweeddale (1824-1878), English ornithologist
• Wilhelm Hemprich, (1796-1825), German naturalist
• Willi Hennig (1913-1976) German biologist, founder of cladistics
• John Stevens Henslow (1796-1861), English botanist
• Brian Houghton Hodgson (1800-1894), English naturalist
• Johann Centurius Hoffmannsegg (1766-1849) German botanist, entomologist and ornithologist
• Jacques Bernard Hombron (1798-1852), French naturalist
• Leroy Hood (1939- ), M.D., Ph.D. American biochemist, developed high speed automated DNA sequencer.
• Robert Hooke (1635-1703), British scholar
• Joseph Dalton Hooker (1817-1911), British botanist
• William Jackson Hooker (1785-1865), British botanist
• Thomas Horsfield (1773-1859), American naturalist
• Albert Howard (1873-1947), British botanist
• Eliot Howard (1873-1940), English ornithologist
• Sarah Blaffer Hrdy biologist
• François Huber (1750-1831), Swiss naturalist
• William Henry Hudson (1841-1922), Argentinian-British ornithologist
• Alexander von Humboldt, (1769-1859), German naturalist
• Allan Octavian Hume (1829-1912), British ornithologist
• Rob Hume, British ornithologist
• Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-1895), British scientist
• Alpheus Hyatt (1838-1902), US neo-Lamarckian
• Libbie Hyman (1888-1969), zoologist

I

• Hermann von Ihering, (1850-1930), German naturalist
• Johann Karl Wilhelm Illiger, (1775-1813), German entomologist
• Jan Ingenhousz (1730-1799), Dutch-born British botanist.
• Tom Iredale, (1880-1972), English conchologist and ornithologist
• Paul Erdmann Isert, (1756-1789), German botanist

J

• François Jacob, (born 1920), French biologist, Nobel Prize
• William Jardine (naturalist) (1800-1874), Scottish naturalist
• Feliks Pawel Jarocki (1790-1865), Polish zoologist
• Daniel H. Janzen (1939- ), American entomologist and ecologist
• Thomas C. Jerdon (1811-1872), British zoologist and botanist
• Wilhelm Johannsen, (1857-1927), (coined the term gene)
• David Starr Jordan (1851-1931), ichthyologist, 1st president of Stanford
• Adrien-Henri de Jussieu, (1797-1853), French botanist
• Antoine de Jussieu, (1686-1758), French naturalist
• Antoine Laurent de Jussieu, (1748-1836), botanist, biologist (botanical abbr.: Juss.)
• Bernard de Jussieu, (1699-1777), French naturalist
• Ernest Everett Just, biologist

K

• Zbigniew Kabata (born 1924), Polish parasitologist
• Pehr Kalm, (1716-1779), Swedish botanist
• Motoderu Kamo, cultivated kimjongilia
• Gustav Karl Wilhelm Hermann Karsten (1817-1908), German botanist
• Stuart Kauffman, biologist
• Johann Jakob Kaup, (1803-1873), German naturalist
• Janet Kear (1933-2004), English ornithologist
• Robert Kerr (writer) (1755-1813), published The Animal Kingdom in 1792
• Motoo Kimura, biologist
• Norman Boyd Kinnear (1882-1957), Scottish zoologist
• William Kirby, (1759-1850), English entomologist
• Heinrich von Kittlitz (1799-1874), German naturalist
• Karl Koch (botanist), (1809-1879), German botanist
• Robert Koch, (1843-1910), German Nobel Prize-winning physician and bacteriologist
• Alexander Koenig (1858-1940), German naturalist
• Albert von Kolliker (1817-1905), Swiss physiologist
• Charles Konig (1774-1851), German naturalist
• Arthur Kornberg, (born 1918), discovered DNA polymerase
• Gerard Krefft (1830-1881), German-born Australian zoologist and palaeontologist
• Heinrich Kuhl (1797-1821), German zoologist

L

• Henri Laborit (1914-1995), French surgeon and physiologist
• Bernard Germain Étienne de la Ville, Comte de Lacépède, (1756-1825), French naturalist
• David Lack (1910-1973), British ornithologist
• Frédéric de Lafresnaye (1783-1861), French ornithologist
• Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (1744-1829), coiner of the term biology (abbr. in botany : Lam.)
• Hugh Lamprey, (1928-1996), British ecologist
• John Latham (1740-1837), English naturalist
• Pierre André Latreille (1762-1833), French entomologist
• George Newbold Lawrence (1806-1855), American ornithologist
• William Elford Leach (1790-1836) English zoologist and marine biologist
• Louis Leakey (1903-1972), British archaeologist
• Joseph Le Conte, (1823-1901), physiologist
• Antoni van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723), developer of the microscope
• François Leguat (1637 - 1735), French naturalist
• Joseph Leidy (1823-1891), US paleontologist
• Johann Philipp Achilles Leisler (1771-1813), Dutch naturalist
• Juan Lembeye (1816-1889), Spanish naturalist
• Jean Baptiste Leschenault de la Tour (1773-1826), French botanist
• Rene Primevere Lesson (1794-1849), French naturalist
• Charles Alexandre Lesueur (1778-1846), French naturalist
• François Le Vaillant (1753-1824), french ornithologist
• Richard Lewontin, biologist
• Emmanuel Liais (1826-1900), French botanist
• Martin Lichtenstein (1780-1867), German zoologist
• Aristid Lindenmayer, biologist
• John Lindley (1799-1865) English botanist
• Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1778), father of taxonomy
• Jacques Loeb, (1859-1924), German-American biologist
• Friedrich Loeffler, (1852-1915), German biologist
• Konrad Lorenz (1903-1989), Austrian founder of ethology
• Harri Lorenzi Brazilian botanist
• John Claudius Loudon (1783-1843), English botanist
• James Lovelock (born 1919), English chemist and father of the gaia hypothesis
• Anatole Stephan Loukashkin, (1902-1988), biologist
• Percy Lowe (1870-1948), English ornithologist
• Peter Wilhelm Lund (1801 - 1880), Danish zoologist and paleontologist
• Salvador Luria, microbiologist
• Richard Lydekker (1849-1915), English naturalist
• Trofim Lysenko (1898-1976), Soviet biologist and agronomist

M

Ma-Mi

• John Macadam (1827-1865), Scottish-born Australian botanist
• William MacGillivray (1796-1852), Scottish naturalist
• Marcello Malpighi, biologist
• Lynn Margulis (born 1938), American microbiologist
• Alberto della Marmora (1789-1863), Italian naturalist
• Othniel Charles Marsh, (1831-1899), paleontology
• Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius (1794-1868), German botanist
• John Martyn (botanist) (1699-1768), English botanist
• Francis Masson (1741-1805?), Scottish botanist
• George Mathews (1876-1949), Australian ornithologist
• Paul Matschie (1861-1926), German zoologist
• William Diller Matthew (1871-1930), American paleontologist
• Polly Matzinger, Immunologist
• Carl Maximowicz (1827-1891), Russian botanist
• Harold Maxwell-Lefroy (1877-1925), English entomologist
• Ernst Mayr (1904-2005) evolutionary biologist
• Barbara McClintock, (1902-1992), biologist
• James V. McConnell, (1925-1990), American biological psychologist
• Edmund Meade-Waldo (1855-1934), English ornithologist
• Gregor Mendel, discoverer of heredity
• Edouard Menetries (1802-1861), French entomologist
• Maud Leonora Menten, biologist
• Archibald Menzies (1754-1852), Scottish naturalist
• Clinton Hart Merriam (1855-1942), American zoologist and ornithologist
• John C. Merriam, (1869-1945), biologist
• Franz Meyen (1804-1840), German botanist
• August Karl Arnold Michaelis (1847-1916), chemist
• Leonor Michaelis, (1875-1949), biologist
• André Michaux (1746-1802), French botanist
• Aleksandr Fyodorovich Middendorf (1815-1894), Russian zoologist
• Gerrit Smith Miller, Jr. (1869-1956), American zoologist.
• John Frederick Miller (1759-1796), English illustrator (primarily of botany)
• Philip Miller (1691-1771), Scottish botanist (abbr. in botany : Mill.)
• Alphonse Milne-Edwards (1835-1900), French zoologist
• Henri Milne-Edwards (1800-1885), French zoologist
• George Jackson Mivart (1827-1900), English biologist

Mo-Mu

• Paul Möhring (1710-1792) German naturalist
• Juan Ignacio Molina (1740-1829), Chilean naturalist
• Jacques Monod, (1910-1976) geneticist
• George Montagu (1753-1815), English naturalist
• Luc Montagnier (born 1932), French discoverer of HIV
• Rita Levi-Montalcini, biologist
• George Thomas Moore (1871-1956) US botanist
• Alfred Moquin-Tandon (1804-1863), French naturalist
• Thomas Hunt Morgan, biologist
• Desmond Morris (born 1928), British zoologist
• Roger Morse, professor, researcher, author, on bees/beekeeping
• Desmond Morris, (born 1928), British biologist
• Guy Mountfort (1905-2003), English ornithologist
• Ferdinand von Mueller (1825-1896), German-Australian botanist
• John Muir (1838-1914), US naturalist
• Philipp Ludwig Statius Muller (1725-1776), German zoologist
• Salomon Muller (1804-1864), Dutch naturalist
• Kary Mullis, (born 1944), biologist
• Otto von Münchhausen (1716-1774), German botanist

N

• Gary Paul Nabhan, (born 1952), co-author of Forgotten Pollinators
• Karl Wilhelm von Nageli (1817-1891), Swiss botanist
• Johann Friedrich Naumann (1780-1857), German founder of scientific ornithology
• John Needham, (1713-1781), English naturalist
• Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck, (1776-1858), German botanist and zoologist
• Charles F. Newcombe (1851-1924), British botanist
• Alfred Newton (1829-1907), English zoologist
• Margaret Morse Nice (1883-1974), American ornithologist
• Henry Alleyne Nicholson (1844-1899), British zoologist
• Alfred John North (1855-1917), Australian ornithologist
• Thomas Nuttall (1786-1858), English botanist and zoologist

O

• Eugene P. Odum (1913-2002), American ecologist
• Howard T. Odum(1924-2002), American ecologist
• William Ogilby (1808-1873), Irish naturalist
• William Robert Ogilvie-Grant (1863-1924), Scottish ornithologist
• Lorenz Oken (1779-1851), German naturalist
• Aleksandr Oparin (1894-1980), Russian biologist and biochemist
• George Ord (1781-1866), American ornithologist
• Eleanor Anne Ormerod, (1828-1901), English entomologist
• Henry Fairfield Osborn (1857-1935), eugenicist, AMNH curator
• Emile Oustalet (1844-1905), French zoologist
• Richard Owen, (1804-1892), biologist

P

• George Emil Palade (b. 1912), Romanian-American biologist, discoverer of ribosomes, Nobel Prize
• Peter Simon Pallas (1741-1811), Russian zoologist
• Edward Palmer (botanist) (1829-1911), British botanist
• Josif Pancic (1814-1888), Serbian botanist
• Paracelsus, (1493-1541), German alchemist
• William Paterson (governor) (1755-1810), British botanist and explorer
• Daniel Pauly, biologist
• Louis Pasteur, (1822-1895), French biochemist
• Titian Peale (1799-1885), American naturalist
• Donald C. Peattie (1898-1964), US botanist
• Jean-Marie Pelt (born 1933), French botanist
• Henri Perrier de la Bâthie (1873-1958), French botanist
• Christian Hendrik Persoon, (1761-1836), biologist
• Paul Petard (botanist) (1912-1980), French botanist
• Wilhelm Peters (1815-1883), German naturalist
• Octavius Pickard-Cambridge (1828-1917), English entomologist
• Charles Pickering (naturalist), (1805-1878), American naturalist
• Gregory Goodwin Pincus, biologist
• Rodolfo Amando Philippi (1808-1904), German-Chilean zoologist
• Constantine John Phipps (1744-1792), English explorer
• Charles Pickering (naturalist) (1805-1878), American naturalist
• Reginald Innes Pocock (1863-1947), British taxonomist (mammals and arachnids)
• Felipe Poey (1799-1891), Cuban zoologist
• Joel Roberts Poinsett (1779-1851), US botanist
• Thomas Littleton Powys, 4th Baron Lilford, (1833-1896), English ornithologist
• Ashoka Prasad(1955-),Indian medical researcher
• Karel Presl (1794-1852), Bohemian botanist
• Nicholas Michailovitch Prjevalsky (1839-1888), Russian explorer
• Alice Pruvot-Fol (1873-1972), French malacologist
• Frederick Traugott Pursh (1774-1820), German-American botanist
• Paul Émile de Puydt '(1810-1888) Belgian botanist

Q

• Jean René Constant Quoy, French zoologist

R

• Gustav Radde (1831-1903), German naturalist
• Thomas Stamford Raffles (1781-1826), founder/first president of the Zoological Society of London
• C. S. Rafinesque, (1783-1840), zoologist who described many North American species
• Edward Pierson Ramsay (1842-1916), Australian ornithologist
• Austin L. Rand (1905-1982), Canadian zoologist
• John Ray (1627-1705), English naturalist
• Francesco Redi, biologist
• Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach, (1823-1889), German orchidologist (abbr. in botany : Rchb. f.)
• Ludwig Reichenbach (1793-1879), German botanist and ornithologist (abbr. in botany : Rchb.)
• Louis Claude Richard (1754-1821), French botanist (abbr. in botany : Rich.)
• John Richardson (naturalist) (1787-1865), Scottish naturalist (abbr. in botany : Richardson)
• Charles Wallace Richmond (1868-1932), American ornithologist
• Robert Ridgway (1850-1929), American ornithologist
• Henry Nicholas Ridley (1855-1956), British botanist (abbr. in botany : Ridl.)
• Martin Rodbell, (1925-1998), biologist
• Austin Roberts (1883-1948), South African zoologist
• Harold E. Robinson (born 1932), American botanist and entomologist.
• Alfred Romer, (1894-1973), specialist in vertebrate paleontology
• Robert Rosen, (1934-1998), theoretical biologist
• Harald Rosenthal, hydrobiologist
• Miriam Rothschild, (1908-2005), British entomologist
• Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild, (1868-1937), British zoologist
• William Roxburgh (1759-1815), Scottish botanist
• Eduard Rüppell (1794-1884), German naturalist

S

Sa-So

• Joseph Sabine (1770-1837), English naturalist
• Julius von Sachs (1832-1897), German botanist
• Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (1772-1844), French naturalist
• Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (1805-1861), French zoologist
• Edward James Salisbury (1886-1978), British botanist
• Richard Anthony Salisbury (1761-1829), British botanist
• William Saunders (1822-1900), US botanist
• Horace-Bénédict de Saussure (1740-1799), Swiss naturalist
• Marie Jules César Savigny (1777-1851), French zoologist
• Thomas Say (1787-1843), American naturalist
• Charles Schuchert (1858-1942), paleontology
• Theodor Schwann, (1810-1882), German physiologist
• Friedrich Schlechter (1872-1925), German botanist
• Hermann Schlegel (1804-1884) German ornithologist
• Matthias Jakob Schleiden, (1804-1881), German co-founder of the cell theory
• George Schoener (1864-1941), German-American botanist
• Heinrich Wilhelm Schott (1794-1865), German botanist
• Johann Christian Daniel von Schreber (1739-1810), German naturalist
• Leopold von Schrenck (1826-1894), Russo-German zoologist
• Georg August Schweinfurth (1836-1925), German botanist
• Philip Sclater, (1829-1913), English zoologist
• Giovanni Antonio Scopoli, (1723-1788), Italian-Austrian naturalist
• Henry Seebohm (1832-1895), English ornithologist
• Prideaux John Selby (1788-1867), English botanist and ornithologist
• Nikolai Alekseevich Severtzov (1827-1885), Russian naturalist
• Richard Bowdler Sharpe (1847-1909), English zoologist
• George Shaw, (1751-1813), English botanist and zoologist
• Rupert Sheldrake, (born 1942), biologist
• George Ernest Shelley (1840-1910), English ornithologist
• Philipp Franz von Siebold (1796-1866), German botanist
• George Gaylord Simpson (1902-1984), American paleontologist
• Rolf Singer, (1906-1994), German born mycologist
• Andrew Smith (zoologist) (1797-1872), Scottish zoologist
• Frederick Smith (1805 - 1879), British entomologist
• James Edward Smith (1759-1828), English botanist
• John Maynard Smith, (1920-2004) biologist
• Daniel Solander, (1733-1782), Swedish botanist

Sp-Sy

• Lazzaro Spallanzani (1729-1799), biologist
• Anders Sparrman (1748-1820), Swedish naturalist
• Walter Baldwin Spencer (1860-1929), English biologist and anthropologist
• Roger W. Sperry (1913-1994), biologist
• Johann Baptist von Spix (1781-1826), German naturalist
• Herman Spoering (1733-1771), Finnish botanist
• Kurt Sprengel (1766-1833), German botanist
• Richard Spruce (1817-1893), English botanist
• Agustin Stahl (1842-1917), Puerto Rican zoologist and botanist
• Edward Stanley, 13th Earl of Derby (1775-1851), English naturalist
• Japetus Steenstrup (1813-1897), Danish zoologist
• Leonhard Hess Stejneger (1851-1943), Norwegian zoologist
• Georg Wilhelm Steller (1709-1746), Russian ornithologist
• James Francis Stephens (1792-1853), English zoologist
• Kaspar Maria von Sternberg (1761-1838), Bohemian botanist
• Karl Stetter (born 1941), German microbiologist
• Nettie Maria Stevens (1861-1912), biologist
• Gottlieb Conrad Christian Storr (1749-1821), German naturalist
• Eduard Strasburger (1844-1912), German botanist (abbr. in botany : Strasb.)
• Erwin Stresemann (1889-1972), German ornithologist
• Carl Jakob Sundevall (1801-1875), Swedish zoologist
• William Swainson (1789-1855), English ornithologist
• Jan Swammerdam (1637-1680), entomologist, microscopist
• Robert Swinhoe (1836-1877), English naturalist
• Colonel W. H. Sykes (1790-1872), English ornithologist

T

• Wladyslaw Taczanowski (1819- 1890), Polish zoologist
• Armen Takhtajan (born 1910), Russian botanist
• Coenraad Jacob Temminck (1778-1858), Dutch zoologist
• Peter Gustaf Tengmalm (1754-1803), Swedish naturalist
• Theophrastus, biologist
• Johannes Thiele, (1860-1935), German zoologist and malacologist
• Michael Rogers Oldfield Thomas (1858-1929), British zoologist
• Carl Peter Thunberg, (1743-1828), Swedish naturalist
• Samuel Tickell (1811-1875), British ornithologist
• Agostino Todaro (1818-1892), Italian botanist
• John Torrey, (1796-1873), US botanist, first professional in New World
• Joseph Pitton de Tournefort (1656-1708), French botanist
• John Kirk Townsend (1809-1851), American ornithologist
• Abraham Trembley (1710-1784), Swiss naturalist
• Henry Baker Tristram (1822-1906), English ornithologist
• Robert Trivers, (born 1943), evolutionary biologist
• Bernard Tucker (1901-1950), English ornithologist
• Edward Tuckerman (1817-1886), US botanist
• Marmaduke Tunstall (1743-1790) English ornithologist
• Ruth Turner, marine biologist

V

• Martin Vahl (1749-1804), Norwegian botanist
• Sebastien Vaillant (1669-1722), French botanist
• Achille Valenciennes, (1794-1865), French zoologist
• Francisco Varela, (1946-2001) Chilean biologist
• Nikolai Vavilov, Soviet botanist
• Craig Venter, biologist
• Edouard Verreaux (1810-1868), French naturalist
• Jules Verreaux (1807-1873) French botanist and ornithologist
• Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot (1748-1831), French ornithologist
• Nicholas Aylward Vigors (1785-1840), Irish zoologist
• Rudolf Virchow, (1821-1902), German biologist
• Karel Voous (1920-2002), Dutch ornithologist

W

• Johann Georg Wagler (1800-1832), German herpetologist
• Warren H. Wagner (1920-2000), US botanist
• Göran Wahlenberg (1780-1851), Swedish naturalist
• Barry Wakeman (1939-2004), American naturalist
• Charles Athanasie Walckenaer (1771 - 1852), French entomologist
• Nathaniel Wallich (1786-1854), Danish botanist
• Deepal Warakagoda (born 1965), Sri Lankan ornithologust
• Charles Waterton, (1782-1865), English naturalist
• James D. Watson, (born 1928), Nobel Prize-winning biologist, co-discoverer of the structure of the DNA molecule
• Alfred Russel Wallace, (1823-1913), British naturalist and biologist
• Philip Barker Webb (1793-1854), English botanist (abbr. in botany : Webb)
• August Weismann, (1834-1914), German biologist
• Friedrich Welwitsch (1806-1872), Austrian botanist
• Alexander Wetmore (1886-1978), American ornithologist
• Gilbert White (1720-1795), English naturalist
• John White (surgeon) (c1756-1832) English botanist
• Prince Alexander Philipp Maximilian zu Wied-Neuwied (1782-1867), German explorer & biologist.
• Charles Wilkes (1798-1877), American explorer and naturalist
• Francis Willughby (1635-1672), English ornithologist & ichthyologist
• Alexander Wilson, (1766-1813), Scottish-American ornithologist
• E. A. Wilson (1872-1912), English naturalist
• Edward O. Wilson, American myrmecologist and father of sociobiology
• Henry Witherby (1873-1943), British ornithologist
• William Withering (1741-1799), English botanist
• Carl Woese, American microbiologist
• Sewall Wright, (1889-1988), biologist

X

• John Xantus de Vesey (1825-1894), American zoologist

Y

• William Yarrell, (1784-1856), English naturalist

Z

• Floyd Zaiger, (1926 - ), fruit genetics
• Eberhard August Wilhelm von Zimmermann, (1743 - 1815), German zoologist
• Karl Alfred von Zittel (1839-1904), German palaeontologist
• Joseph Gerhard Zuccarini (1797-1848), German botanist