John Graham Kerr

John Graham Kerr
Born	18 September 1869 Hertfordshire
Died	21 April 1957 (1957-04-22) (aged 87)
Nationality	Scottish
Fields	embryology, camouflage
Alma mater	University of Edinburgh Christ's College, Cambridge
Known for	embryology of lungfishes, dazzle camouflage
Influenced	Hugh B. Cott
Notable awards	Linnean Medal (1955) Fellow of the Royal Society
Notes
MP for Combined Scottish Universities

Sir John Graham Kerr FRSFRSE FLS FZS LLD (18 September 1869 – 21 April 1957), known to his friends as Graham Kerr, was a Scottish embryologist and Unionist Member of Parliament (MP). He is best known for his studies of the embryology of lungfishes. He was involved in ship camouflage in the First World War, and through his pupil Hugh B. Cott influenced military camouflage thinking in the Second World War also.

He was born at Rowley Lodge, Arkley in Hertfordshire to Scottish parents: John Kerr former Principal of Hooghly College in Calcutta and his wife, Sybella Graham.

Kerr was educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh, and then studied Medicine at the University of Edinburgh.

Kerr interrupted his medical studies to join an Argentinian expedition to study the natural history of the Pilcomayo River. On his return, he studied natural sciences at Christ's College, Cambridge, graduating with first class honours in 1896. The Argentinian expedition had ended with the loss of most of the collections, but after graduating he mounted an expedition to the Gran Chaco, bringing home a large collection of material related to the South American lungfish, Lepidosiren paradoxa. Kerr was accompanied by John Samuel Budgett, who studied the frogs of the area and discovered a new genus.