Deaths of note from around the world:

Robert Stebbins, 98: A biologist considered by many to be the pre-eminent authority on the lungless salamander, the barking tree frog, the northern Pacific rattlesnake and hundreds of other amphibians and reptiles of the North American West. Died Sept. 23 in Eugene.

Phil Chevron, 56: The Dublin-born guitarist for boisterous Anglo-Irish band The Pogues; he was a member of seminal Irish punk rockers The Radiators From Space before joining the London-based Pogues in the early 1980s. Died Tuesday in Dublin.

Patrice Chereau, 68: A celebrated French actor and director in film, theater and opera who was renowned for cutting-edge productions. Died Monday in Paris.

Ruth Benerito, 97: A chemist long affiliated with the U.S. Department of Agriculture who helped perfect modern wrinkle-free cotton, colloquially known as permanent press, in work that she and her colleagues began in the late 1950s. Died Saturday in Metairie, La.