With legs paralyzed by childhood disease,[1] he studied physics and natural history but ended up being devoted to the latter.
It was one of the first modern handbooks of ornithology, combining Linnean binomial nomenclature with the anatomical and physiological descriptions of Buffon.
This latter work contained descriptions of 517 species, many for the first time, based on examining over 1100 specimens.
Although his books were commercial failures the couple did not live in poverty, due to the family fortune.
Despite his short life, Daudin made a lasting contribution to taxonomy.