The American Naturalist

The American Naturalist is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal that was established in 1867. It is published by the University of Chicago Press on behalf of the American Society of Naturalists. The journal covers research in ecology, evolutionary biology, population, and integrative biology. As of 2016^[update], the editor-in-chief is Judith L. Bronstein. According to the Journal Citation Reports, the journal had a 2011 impact factor of 4.736, ranking it 21st out of 131 journals in the category "Ecology" and 10th out of 45 journals in the category "Evolutionary Biology".

The journal was founded by Alpheus Hyatt, Edward S. Morse, Alpheus S. Packard Jr., and Frederick W. Putnam at the Essex Institute in Salem, Massachusetts. The first issue appeared in print dated March 1867.

In 1878 the journal was for sale and Edward Cope bought half the rights. He moved the journal to Philadelphia and arranged to edit it jointly with Professor Alpheus S. Packard Jr. Cope became editor-in-chief in 1887 and continued in that capacity until his death in 1897.

In 1897, a group of professors from M.I.T., Harvard, and Tufts bought the rights from the Cope estate and kept the journal in publication until 1907 when J. McKeen Cattell acquired control. Cattell's son Jacques became co-editor and publisher with his father in 1939.