Oklahoma Herpetofaunal Atlas

Kansas is exceptional in its history of noted herpetologists; many were born here, some lived in Kansas during formative periods of their lives, and others made significant discoveries while passing through. These biographies acknowledge their efforts and provide context to their lives and times. They also attempt, as possible, to put faces to the names listed repeatedly in the KHA. The list of biographies is not exhaustive; historical accounts are created and updated continually. Likewise, the list will grow as people add to Kansas herpetology.

ADAMS, LEVERETT A.
Leverett Allen Adams (23 September 1877 — 18 August 1976)

Adams (an American zoologist and museum curator) was born in Lawrence, Kansas the son of James W. Adams and Mary Janes Pierson Adams, and graduated from Lawrence High School. Adams entered the University of Kansas to study biology, earning a B.S. (1903) and an M.S. (1906). In 1915 he received his Ph.D. degree from Columbia University. He was hired as a museum assistant in the Department of Zoology at the University of Kansas in 1903.
In 1906 Adams became an assistant professor of biology at the State Teachers College in Greeley, Colorado, and in 1914 he was appointed head of the Department of Biology. In 1921 Leverett Allen Adams accepted an appointment as assistant professor of zoology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, in 1935 he was appointed associate professor, in 1938 full professor, in 1939 curator of the Natural History Museum, and in 1948 he became emeritus.
He was a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a member of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, the American Society of Zoologists, the American Association of Museums, the Association of Midwest Museums, the Acacia Fraternity (Ακακία), the Sigma Xi and the Beta Theta Pi. Adams has published numerous articles in scientific journals. His research focus was on vertebrates and comparative anatomy. He died in La Jolla, California.
Adams (in a paper co-authored by Handel T. Martin) described Plioambystoma (=Ambystoma) kansense from the Pliocene of Sherman County, Kansas.

Last Updated: 1/24/2023 1:27:13 PM Travis W. Taggart

Relevant Literature: 3 publications

1928	Adams, Leverett A. and Handel T. Martin. Pliocene Urodeles in western Kansas. Science 68(1751):59-60
1929	Adams, Leverett A. and Handel T. Martin. A new urodele from the lower Pliocene of Kansas. American Journal of Science s5-17(102):504-520
1930	Adams, Leverett A. and Handel T. Martin. An addition to the Urodele fauna of Kansas from the Lower Pliocene. The University of Kansas Science Bulletin 19(14):10

Biographies of Kansas Herpetologists