His main subject of research was herpetology and zoogeography of Latin America, especially Ecuador. During his thirty years of research in herpetology he described 17 new species or subspecies, most of them amphibians, such as several neotropical toads of the genus Atelopus.
Peters died of liver cancer in 1972 (Irish & Zug, 1982).
He held positions in the Department of Reptiles and Amphibians at the Smithsonian Institution
Associate Curator (1964–1967)
Curator (1967–1972)
Peters was a member of professional societies such as: American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, where he served as secretary, 1960–1966, vice-president, 1967 and president, 1970. He was elected to the Washington Biologists' Field Club. He inaugurated the Smithsonian Herpetological Information Services which distributed materials to herpetological institutions and individuals. He founded the newsletter MUDPIE (Museum and University Data Program and Information Exchange) providing information on computer programs, references, grants, meetings, etc.
Peters JA (1960). Snakes of the Subfamily Dipsadinae. University of Michigan Museum of Zoology.
Peters JA, Orejas-Miranda B, Donoso-Barros R (1970). Catalogue of Neotropical Squamata. Washington, District of Columbia: Smithsonian Institution. 2 vols. B9149.
Peters JA (1959). Classic Papers in Genetics. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Inc.
Peters JA (1964). Dictionary of Herpetology. New York: Hafner.
Article in the Concise American Heritage Dictionary.
Article in the Encyclopædia Britannica.
The snakes of Ecuador; check list and key (The Museum, Cambridge, 1960).
^Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN978-1-4214-0135-5. (Peters, J.A., p. 204).
^Kizirian, David A. (1996). "A Review of Ecuadorian Proctoporus (Squamata: Gymnophthalmidae) with Descriptions of Nine New Species". Herpetological Monographs. 10: 85–155. doi:10.2307/1466981. JSTOR1466981.
Further reading
Adler, Kraig (1989). Contributions to the History of Herpetology, Vol. I Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles (SSAR). 202 pp. ISBN978-0916984199.
[1] Smithsonian Institution Archives. Record Unit 7175 James A. Peters Papers and Records of the Division of Reptiles and Amphibians
Perry, Matthew C. (editor) (2007). The Washington Biologists' Field Club: Its Members and its History (1900-2006). Washington, District of Columbia: Washington Biologists' Field Club / Maple Press. 352 pp. ISBN0615162592, ISBN978-0615162591.