Paulus Edward Pieris Deraniyagala


Paulus Edward Pieris Deraniyagala was a Sri Lankan paleontologist, zoologist, and artist.

Early life and education

He was born in Colombo, the son of Sir Paul Edward Pieris, civil servant and scholar, and Lady Hilda Obeyesekere Pieris. He had younger brother, the painter Justin Pieris Deraniyagala and a sister Miriam Pieris Deraniyagala, a performing artist on her own right, her son is the Sri Lankan cellist Rohan de Saram. He was educated at S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia and at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he gained a BA in 1922 and a MA in 1923. He entered Harvard University for a year where he was awarded MA in 1924.

Career

He specialised in fauna and human fossils of the Indian subcontinent. From 1939 to 1963 he was the Director of the National Museum of Ceylon, and from 1961 to 1964 he was also the Dean of the Faculty of Arts at the Vidyodaya University.
He described several fossils and proposed scientific names for species and subspecies, with several now identified as dubious, including:
During his trips to China, he studied the Chinese alligator and published a new genus name for it. In the scientific field of herpetology he described many new species of lizards and snakes.
He served as President of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society from 1952 to 1955.
Deraniyagala is commemorated in the scientific names of three species of Sri Lankan reptiles: Aspidura deraniyagalae, Lankascincus deraniyagalae, and Nessia deraniyagalai.

Family

He was married to Prini Molamure; their son Siran Upendra Deraniyagala is also a famous scientist, specialising in archeology.