Biology Rafinesque published 6,700
binomial names of plants, many of which have
priority over more familiar names. The quantity of new taxa he produced, both plants and animals, has made Rafinesque memorable or even notorious among biologists. is one of many species first named by Rafinesque. Rafinesque applied to join one of the western scientific expeditions organized by President
Thomas Jefferson, but received notice of appointment to the
Dunbar and Hunter Expedition only after his arrival in Sicily. Rafinesque held that
species are not fixed; they gradually change through time. He used the term "
mutations". He believed that evolution had occurred "by gradual steps at remote irregular periods." This has been compared to the concept of
punctuated equilibrium. He also held that the same processes apply to humans.
Walam Olum In 1836, Rafinesque published his first volume of
The American Nations. This included
Walam Olum, a purported migration and creation narrative of the
Lenape (also known by English speakers as the Delaware Indians). It told of their migration to the lands around the
Delaware River. Rafinesque claimed he had obtained wooden tablets engraved and painted with Indigenous
pictographs, together with a transcription in the
Lenape language. Based on this, he produced an English translation of the tablets' contents. Rafinesque claimed the original tablets and transcription were later lost, leaving his notes and transcribed copy as the only record of evidence. For over a century after Rafinesque's publication, the
Walam Olum was widely accepted by ethnohistorians as authentically Native American in origin, but as early as 1849, when the document was republished by
Ephraim G. Squier,
Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, an ethnologist who had worked extensively in Michigan and related territories, wrote to Squier saying that he believed the document might be fraudulent. In the 1950s, the
Indiana Historical Society published a "retranslation" of the
Walam Olum, as "a worthy subject for students of aboriginal culture". Since the late 20th century, studies especially in linguistic, ethnohistorical, archaeological, and
textual analyses suggest that the
Walam Olum account was largely or entirely a fabrication. Scholars have described its record of "authentic Lenape traditional migration stories" as spurious. Other scholars, writers, and some among the Lenape continue to find the account plausible and support its authenticity. Rafinesque never excavated; rather, he recorded the sites visited by careful measurements, sketches, and written descriptions. Only a few of his descriptions were published, with his friend John D. Clifford's series "Indian Antiquities", eight long letters in Lexington's short-lived
Western Review and Miscellaneous Magazine (1819–1820). Clifford died suddenly in 1820, ending his contributions. Rafinesque's work was used by others. For instance, he identified 148 ancient earthworks sites in Kentucky. All sites in Kentucky that were included by E. G. Squier and Davis in their notable
Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley (1848), completed for the
Smithsonian Institution, were first identified by Rafinesque in his manuscripts. Rafinesque also made contributions to
Mesoamerican studies. The latter were based on linguistic data, which he extracted from printed sources, mostly those of travelers. He designated as
Taino, the ancient language of the
Caribbean island of
Hispaniola. Others later also used the term to identify the
ethnicity of Indigenous Caribbean peoples. Although mistaken in his presumption that the ancient
Maya script was
alphabetical in nature, Rafinesque was probably first to insist that studying modern
Mayan languages could lead to deciphering the ancient script. In 1832, he was the first to partly decipher ancient Maya. He explained that its
bar-and-dot symbols represent fives and ones, respectively. '' was named in Rafinesque's honor.
Legacy According to historian George Daniels, Rafinesque was a brilliant but erratic naturalist who roamed the American wilderness. His style was offputting to the emerging professionalization of science, and his achievements were controversial at the time and by historians ever since. By 1820, he was virtually an outcast in the scientific community as all the important publications rejected his submissions. The two leading American scientists of the day,
Benjamin Silliman and
Asa Gray, were harshly critical. Modern historians agree that Rafinesque was often hasty, and tried to claim credit properly due to other researchers. Scientists were troubled that his theory of evolution – long before Darwin – seemed to be based more on his speculation and exaggerations than on solid research. Despite all his faults, says Daniels, "he made enormous contributions to the natural history phase of American science...with the establishment of 34 genera and 24 species of American fishes." He was also a brilliant teacher at Transylvania University. • In 1838, the
white-spotted lantern fish was named
Collettia rafinesquii in his honour by
Anastasio Cocco; it has since been moved to
Diaphus rafinesquii. • In 1841,
Thomas Nuttall named a new genus
Rafinesquia after Rafinesque. He felt indebted to the naturalist, who had inspired his work and given Nuttall's
Flora a positive review. The genus now contains two species,
Rafinesquia californica Nutt. (California plumeseed or California chicory) and
Rafinesquia neomexicana A. Gray (desert chicory or plumeseed). • In 1892,
James Hall and J. M. Clarke proposed the genus name
Rafinesquina in honor of Rafinesque for a number of fossil
brachiopod species then belonging to genus
Leptaena; the genus is now in the family Rafinesquinidae. • In 1896, the fish genus
Rafinesquiellus was named by Jordan & Evermann, though it was subsequently synonymized under the genus
Etheostoma. ==Published works==