| Jeanette Covacevich | |
| Birth Date: | 26 March 1945 |
| Birth Place: | Innisfail, Queensland, Australia |
| Death Place: | Cairns, Queensland, Australia |
| Citizenship: | Australian |
| Nationality: | Australian |
| Fields: | Scientist |
Jeanette Adelaide Covacevich (1945–2015) was a herpetologist in Queensland, Australia. As a senior curator of vertebrates at the Queensland Museum, she discovered and studied many reptiles and frogs in Queensland.[1] Covacevich is most famous for rediscovering and describing the Inland Taipan snake (Oxyuranus microlepidotus), the world's most venomous snake.[2] [3] In addition, she described over thirty new species and genera including the Cape York striped blind snake (Ramphotyphlops chamodracaena), the Nangur spiny skink (Nangura spinosa), and the Bulburin leaf-tailed gecko (Phyllurus caudiannulatus).[4]
On 12 June 1995 she was awarded the Member of the Order of Australia for her contribution to science, in particular for herpetology and conservation.[5]
Covacevich is commemorated in the scientific name of a species of earthworm, Terriswalkerius covacevichae; the Australian spiders, Zophorame covacevichae and Kababina covacevichae; the Australian frog, Pseudophryne covacevichae; and the Australian gecko, Amalosia jacovae[6] (J. A. Cov. + Latin suffix -ae).