Ned Hollister

Ned Hollister (born November 26, 1876 in Delavan , Wisconsin , † November 3, 1924 ) was an American zoologist . From 1916 to 1924 he was superintendent of the Smithsonian National Zoological Park .

Live and act

Ned Hollister was born on November 26, 1876 in Delavan, Wisconsin . He was the youngest of four children and had two brothers and a sister. His father was a businessman and ran a general store. Hollister attended the public schools in Delavan. He didn't graduate from high school because he went on a field trip on the exam days. So he didn't go to college either.

After his school education he met Ludwig Kumlien (1853-1902), who was a professor at Milton College . With him he worked on The Birds of Wisconsin , which appeared in 1903. The work states that it included 35 years of research by Kumlien and 15 years of research by Hollister. But this would mean that Hollister began his research at the age of 12. One clue that this might be true is that Hollister published three papers, one in The Oologist and two in The Taxidermist , in 1882 at the age of 16 .

In 1901, Hollister made a trip to the Smithsonian Institution to visit the National Museum. There he met Vernon Orlando Bailey (1864-1942), for whom he worked for a year. In 1902 he returned to Delavan and was able to buy Kumlien's collection of 1,500 prepared animals. Wilfred Hudson Osgood hired Hollister for an expedition to Alaska in 1903. On San Juan Island the two discovered a subspecies of the deer vole ( Peromyscus maniculatus hollisteri ), which Osgood named after Hollister. He then returned to Delavan and worked in his father's general store. Nevertheless, he always expanded his collection of animals, which in 1909 already comprised 3,625 mammals and 1,509 birds.

On April 15, 1908, Hollister married Mabel Pfrimmer, and they both moved to Washington, where he accepted a position as assistant curator for mammals at the United States National Museum in 1909. In 1911 he went on an expedition to Jasper National Park and Mount Robson and a year later in 1912 he visited the Altai Mountains in Siberia.

In 1916, Hollister became superintendent of the Smithsonian National Zoological Park , a position he held until his death. Nonetheless, he continued to research and mainly worked on the three volumes of East African Mammals in the United States National Museum , which appeared in 1918, 1919 and 1923.

In his life, Hollister collected a total of 26 type specimens of previously unknown mammal species and was able to describe 162 new species for the first time .

Hollister was Associate Editor of the Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences . In 1921 he became president of the Biological Society of Washington . He was a founding member of the American Society of Mammalogists .

Ned Hollister died on November 3, 1924 at the age of 47. He left no children.

Works (selection)

The most significant works by Hollister are:

• The Birds of Wisconsin (1903)
• A Systematic Synopsis of Muskrats (1911)
• Mammals of the Philippine Islands (1912)
• Mammals of Alpine Club Expedition to Mount Robson (1913)
• Philippine Land Mammals in the US National Museum (1913)
• Mammals Collected by the Smithsonian-Harvard Expedition to the Altai Mountains (1913)
• A Systematic Account of the Grasshopper Mice (1914)
• A Systematic Account of the Prairie-dogs
• East African Mammals in the United States National Museum (1918, 1919, 1923)

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• Wilfred Hudson Osgood: Ned Hollister [Born November 26, 1876-Died November 3, 1924] . In: Journal of Mammalogy . tape 6 , no. 1 , February 1925, p. 1-12 , JSTOR : 1373463 .