Jay M. Savage

Jay Mathers Savage (born August, 1928, in Santa Monica, California) is an American herpetologist known for his research on reptiles and amphibians of Central America. He is a past president of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, the Society of Systematic Biologists, and the Southern California Academy of Sciences. He received his bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees from Stanford University. He has produced around 200 publications, including the books Evolution (Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1968) and The Amphibians and Reptiles of Costa Rica (University of Chicago Press, 2002). He is an emeritus professor at the University of Miami and adjunct professor at San Diego State University.

Savage is commemorated in the scientific names of 18 animal species as well as the frog genus Barycholos (from the Greek word for "savage"). Reptile species named in his honor include Chilomeniscus savagei, Diplodactylus savagei, Pseuderemias savagei, and Sphaerodactylus savagei.