Mark Catesby (April 3, 1683 - December 1749) was an English naturalist. Between 1731 and 1743 Catesby published his Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands, the first published account of the flora and fauna of North America. It included 220 plates of birds, reptiles and amphibians, fish, insects, and mammals.

Catesby's father was a lawyer and gentleman father. Catesby studied natural history in London before going to stay with his sister in Virginia in 1712. He later settled in South Carolina, and travelled to other parts of eastern North America and the West Indies, collecting plants and birds. Many of these specimens were sent to Hans Sloane in London. Catesby returned to England in 1726.

Carolus Linnaeus included much of the information in the Natural History in the 10th edition of his Systema Naturae (1758).

Reference

• Walters, Michael A Concise History of Ornithology. (ISBN 1873403976)

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