Biography
George Washington Tryon was the son of Edward K. Tryon and Adeline Savidt. In 1853 he attended the Friends Central School in Philadelphia.
In 1859, Tryon became a member of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. He was largely responsible for the construction of new buildings for the Academy, especially, in 1866, a section for malacology. In 1869 he became the conservator in this malacological section.
In 1865, together with a group of American malacologists, he founded (and financed) the American Journal of Conchology. This ended in 1872.
In 1879 he started the Manual of Conchology; structural and systematic; with illustrations of the species, volume 1, series 1. When he died, nine volumes of the first series had been published. For two years, from 1887 until 1888, when he died, his assistant was Henry Augustus Pilsbry. Thereafter, Pilsbry continued as editor of the ongoing multi-volume Manual of Conchology. The work was continued until 1935. At that date, 45 volumes had been published.
Tryon named more than 5,600 new species, and can be considered as one of the most prolific malacologists. His important collection (more than 10,000 specimens) made the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia the center of malacological studies in the 19th century.
The freshwater snail genus Tryonia is named in his honor.
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