GERVAIS, (FRANOIS-LOUIS-) PAUL

born Sept. 26, 1816, Paris died Feb. 10, 1879, Paris paleontologist and zoologist who succeeded Georges Cuvier and Henri de Blainville as principal French contributor to vertebrate paleontology. Gervais was a student of Blainville, who was Cuvier's successor as professor of comparative anatomy at the Musum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris. Gervais eventually followed his teacher in the coveted chair (1868). At Montpellier, he served as professor of zoology and comparative anatomy (184565) and became dean of the faculty of sciences (1856). During this period, he published a supplement to the paleontological works of Cuvier and Blainville, Zoologie et palontologie franaises (184852). Both this study and Zoologie et palontologie gnrales (186775) were his principal works.