Philip Hershkovitz

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Philip Hershkovitz around 1960 during his revision of the Phyllotini ( Sigmodontinae ).

Philip Hershkovitz (born October 12, 1909 in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania , † February 15, 1997 in Chicago , Illinois ) was an American mammaloge and curator at the Field Museum of Natural History . His focus was on the evolution , taxonomy and nomenclature of the neotropical mammals .

Life

Early years and education

Philip Hershkovitz was the second of four children and the only son of Aba Hershkovitz and Bertha Halpern. In February 1927 he graduated from Schenley High School and enrolled in 1929 at the University of Pittsburgh with a major in Zoology. There he was a student assistant at the Department of Zoology in 1930 and 1931. Since Hershkovitz was already focusing on mammalogy at that time , the proposal was made to enroll at Harvard University , the University of Michigan or the University of California, Berkeley .

In 1931, Hershkovitz moved to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor , due to its proximity to his hometown, and worked there in 1931/32 at the Museum of Zoology at the University of Michigan under professor and curator Lee Raymond Dice (1887–1977). Because of the 1930s in the United States ruling Great Depression he earned as a taxidermist in addition some money. In the summer of 1932 he also undertook his first field study : on behalf of Eduard Uhlenhuth (1885–1961), anatomist at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, he collected blind cave salamanders ( Eurycea rathbuni ) in the area around San Marcos , Texas . During his trip to Texas, Hershkovitz stopped in Chicago to visit friends, and there befriended Colin Campbell Sanborn , curator of mammals at the Field Museum of Natural History .

In 1933, Hershkovitz had to interrupt his studies because he was no longer able to raise the tuition fees. In the same year he moved with the Grace Line from New York to Guayaquil , Ecuador , since that is where the cost of living , he was told, was the lowest. In 1937 he returned to the United States with a rich collection of Ecuadorian mammals for the Museum of Zoology and re-enrolled at the University of Michigan. The following year, 1938, he obtained his Bachelor of Science degree . From 1938 to 1941, Hershkovitz continued to work on his collection at the museum under the direction of curator William Henry Burt ; Dice had moved to the Laboratory of Vertebrate Genetics at the University of Michigan. In 1940 Hershkovitz obtained his Master of Science degree and immediately began his doctoral studies.

In 1941 he was made aware of the National Museum of Natural History's Walter Rathbone Bacon Traveling Scholarship by Helen Gage, curator of reptiles and amphibians at the Museum of Zoology . The scholarship was actually postdoctoral reserved, but Remington Kellogg (1892-1969) encouraged the National Museum Hershkovitz to apply. Hershkovitz was awarded the scholarship and immediately traveled to Washington, DC , to review the sparse collection of Neotropical mammals for two months. He spent the next two years, from 1941 to 1943, in Colombia , collecting vertebrates and ectoparasites .

During the Second World War , Hershkovitz's work was interrupted in 1943. He was assigned to the Office of Strategic Services . During his service in France he married Anne Marie Pierrette in 1946 and they had three children (Francine, Michael and Mark). Back in the United States, he continued his research in Washington, DC in 1946/47.

Field Museum of Natural History

In 1947, Hershkovitz was offered a position as assistant curator for mammals at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. He accepted the position but was unable to complete his doctoral studies. In 1948 he moved with his family to Colombia to continue the field studies he had already started with the Bacon Scholarship . He stayed there until Sanborn ordered him back in 1952 in order to finally fulfill his curatorial duties. Hershkovitz got on very well with Karl Patterson Schmidt , chief curator of the zoology department at the time. He performed his duties as a curator and was promoted to associate curator in 1954 and full curator in 1956 .

Schmidt, who retired in 1955 and died in 1957, was succeeded by ornithologist Austin Loomer Rand . With him, Hershkovitz Association had a less good relationship and he withdrew more and more from day-to-day business. This culminated in 1961 with the appointment of Joseph B. Moore as curator for mammals; Hershkovitz was given the position of Research Curator , a position that had never existed before.

During his time at the Field Museum, he undertook even larger expeditions to Suriname (1960–1961) and Bolivia (1965–1966).

Retirement and death

Philip Hershkovitz about 1987

In 1971 Philip Hershkovitz retired, but continued to work as a curator emeritus at the Field Museum. He also carried out field research into old age. From 1980 to 1981 he was on an expedition in Peru . The following years took him to different places in Brazil : 1984 to the Amazon , 1986 to the Cerrados and from 1987 to 1989 and 1992 to the Atlantic rainforest on the east coast. In total, Hershkovitz spent almost 15 years in South America and worked at the Field Museum for 50 years.

Hershkovitz worked until shortly before his death. While he was hospitalized in January 1997, five articles were in print and he just edited an article about the brown four-eyed opossum ( Metachirus nudicaudatus ). On February 15, 1997, Hershkovitz died at the age of 87 from complications from bone cancer at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.

Services

In his career, Hershkovitz published on all the mammalian orders occurring in the Neotropic . He concentrated particularly on the evolution and spread of mammals and their classification , nomenclature and systematics . He described 67 new species and subspecies, most of them in the orders of rodents (Rodentia) and primates (Primates), and revised the nomenclature of numerous taxa. But other scientists also benefited from his expeditions in South America, as Hershkovitz not only brought mammals with him for the collections of the Field Museum.

Primatology was also a large field of creativity . He has received over two decades of research grants from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health to study Neotropical primates. The first volume of the Living New World Monkeys appeared in 1977 , comprised more than 1,100 pages and was described by Ronald H. Pine as "the most heroic, monumental revision that has ever been assigned to a Neotropical group". This was followed by other larger and smaller works, especially on the New World monkeys ( Platyrrhini ); however, another volume of the Living New World Monkeys never appeared.

His Catalog of Living Whales (1966) was referred to by John Edward Heyning (1957-2007) as a "taxonomic rosetta stone ". Although Hershkovitz never dealt with marine mammals in particular, his catalog is an important reference for the literature and taxonomy of the whales ( Cetacea ) of the 19th century.

Honors

Hershkovitz had been a corresponding member of the Explorers Club since 1977 , honorary president of the 12th Congress of the International Primatological Society (1988), Distinguished Primatologist of the American Society of Primatologists (1991) and honorary member of the American Society of Mammalogists (since 1991).

In 1987 the commemorative publication Studies in Neotropical Mammalogy was dedicated to him . It was only the fourth celebratory item in the history of the Field Museum that was produced for a research assistant at the museum. Before him there were festivities for Wilfred Hudson Osgood , Karl Patterson Schmidt and Rainer Zangerl .

The following taxa were named in his honor:

Works (selection)

Hershkovitz published all but three articles of his work alone. Patterson lists over 160 scientific articles and monographs for him; along with contributions to encyclopedias and popular science articles , Hershkovitz published more than 300 papers.

  • A systematic review of the Neotropical water rats of the genus Nectomys (Cricetinae) (=  Miscellaneous Publications, Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan . No. 58 ). University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 1944 (English, umich.edu ).
  • Mammals of Northern Colombia . Preliminary Report No. 1: Squirrels (Sciuridae). In: Proceedings of the United States National Museum . Vol. 97, no. 3208. Smithsonian Institution, Washington 1947, pp. 1-46 , doi : 10.5479 / si.00963801.97-3208.1 (English, biodiversitylibrary.org ).
  • Mammals of Northern Colombia . Preliminary Report No. 2: Spiny Rats (Echimyidae), with Supplemental Notes on Related Forms. In: Proceedings of the United States National Museum . Vol. 97, no. 3214. Smithsonian Institution, Washington 1948, pp. 125–140 , doi : 10.5479 / si.00963801.3214.125 (English, biodiversitylibrary.org ).
  • Mammals of Northern Colombia . Preliminary Report No. 3: Water Rats (Genus Nectomys), with Supplemental Notes on Related Forms. In: Proceedings of the United States National Museum . Vol. 98, No. 3221. Smithsonian Institution, Washington 1948, pp. 49–56 , doi : 10.5479 / si.00963801.3221.49 (English, biodiversitylibrary.org ).
  • Mammals of Northern Colombia . Preliminary Report No. 4: Monkeys (Primates), with Taxonomic Revisions of Some Forms. In: Proceedings of the United States National Museum . Vol. 98, No. 3232. Smithsonian Institution, Washington 1949, pp. 323-427 , doi : 10.5479 / si.00963801.98-3232.323 (English, biodiversitylibrary.org ).
  • Mammals of Northern Colombia . Preliminary Report No. 5: Bats (Chiroptera). In: Proceedings of the United States National Museum . Vol. 99, no. 3246. Smithsonian Institution, Washington 1949, pp. 429–454 , doi : 10.5479 / si.00963801.99-3246.429 (English, biodiversitylibrary.org ).
  • Mammals of Northern Colombia . Preliminary Report No. 6: Rabbits (Leporidae), with Notes on the Classification and Distribution of the South American Forms. In: Proceedings of the United States National Museum . Vol. 100, No. 3265. Smithsonian Institution, Washington 1950, pp. 327-375 , doi : 10.5479 / si.00963801.100-3265.327 (English, biodiversitylibrary.org ).
  • Mammals of Northern Colombia . Preliminary Report No. 7: Tapirs (Genus Tapirus), with a Systematic Review of American Species. In: Proceedings of the United States National Museum . Vol. 103, no. 3329. Smithsonian Institution, Washington 1954, pp. 465–496 , doi : 10.5479 / si.00963801.103-3329.465 (English, biodiversitylibrary.org ).
  • Mammals of Northern Colombia . Preliminary Report No. 8: Arboreal Rice Rats, a Systematic Revision of the Subgenus Oecomys, Genus Oryzomys. In: Proceedings of the United States National Museum . Vol. 110, No. 3420. Smithsonian Institution, Washington 1960, pp. 513-568 , doi : 10.5479 / si.00963801.110-3420.513 (English, biodiversitylibrary.org ).
  • Evolution of Neotropical cricetine rodents (Muridae) with special reference to the phyllotine group (=  Fieldiana: Zoology . No. 46 ). Chicago Natural History Museum, Chicago 1962 (English, biodiversitylibrary.org ).
  • Catalog of Living Whales (=  United States National Museum Bulletin . No. 246 ). Smithsonian Institution, Washington 1966, doi : 10.5479 / si.03629236.246 (English, biodiversitylibrary.org ).
  • Living New World Monkeys (Platyrrhini) . With an Introduction to Primates. Volume 1. University of Chicago Press, Chicago 1977 (English, XIV + 1117 pp.).

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literature

  • Bruce D. Patterson : A Biographical Sketch of Philip Hershkovitz, with a Complete Scientific Bibliography . In: Bruce D. Patterson, Robert M. Timm (Eds.): Studies in Neotropical Mammalogy . Essays in Honor of Philip Hershkovitz (=  Fieldiana Zoology . New Series, No. 39). Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago 1987, LCCN  87-082549 , p. 1–10 (English, biodiversitylibrary.org ).
  • Bruce D. Patterson: A Celebration of Philip Hershkovitz . Emeritus Curator of Mammals. In: David M. Walsten (Ed.): Field Museum of National History Bulletin . Vol. 59, No. 1. Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago 1988, p. 24–29 (English, biodiversitylibrary.org ).
  • Kenan Heise: Field Curator Emeritus Philip Hershkovitz . In: Chicago Tribune . February 21, 1997 (English, chicagotribune.com ).
  • Jack Fooden : Obituary: Philip Hershkovitz (1909-1997) . In: International Journal of Primatology . Vol. 18, No. 3, 1997, p. 301-303 , doi : 10.1023 / A: 1026326231152 (English).
  • John Edward Heyning : Philip Hershkovitz . 1909-1997. In: Marine Mammal Science . Vol. 14, No. 1, 1998, p. 203 , doi : 10.1111 / j.1748-7692.1998.tb00710.x (English).
  • Bruce D. Patterson: Philip Hershkovitz: 1909-1997 . In: Journal of Mammalogy . Vol. 78, No. 3, 1997, p. 978–981 , doi : 10.2307 / jmammal / 78.3.978 (English, oup.com - DOI defective).
  • Bruce D. Patterson: Philip Hershkovitz, 1909-1997 . In: Mastozoología Neotropical . Vol. 4, No. 1, 1997, p. 77-78 (English, org.ar [PDF]).

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Ronald H. Pine : Current status of South American Mammalogy . In: Hugh H. Genoways, Michael A. Mares (Eds.): Mammalian Biology in South America . Pymatuning Symposium in Ecology, Pymatuning Laboratory of Ecology, University of Pittsburgh, Lineville, Pennsylvania. Vol. 6, 1982, pp. 27–37 (English, p. 31): "Primates are also the subject of the most heroically monumental revisionary monograph ever devoted to a Neotropical group (Hershkovitz 1977)."
  2. ↑ John Edward Heyning : Philip Hershkovitz . 1909-1997. In: Marine Mammal Science . Vol. 14, No. 1, 1998, p. 203 , doi : 10.1111 / j.1748-7692.1998.tb00710.x (English): “Hershkovitz's tome still serves as the taxonomic Rosetta Stone […]”
  3. ^ Emmet Reid Blake : A Colombian race of Tinamus osgoodi . In: Fieldiana Zoology . Vol. 34, No. 18, 1953, p. 199–200 (English, biodiversitylibrary.org - p. 199): “I take pleasure in naming the Colombian representative in honor of its collector.”
  4. ↑ Lindolpho Rocha Guimarães , Maria D'Andretta AV: Sinopse dos Nycteribiidae (Diptera) do novo mundo . In: Arquivos de Zoologia (São Paulo) . tape 10 , 1956, pp. 1–184 (Portuguese).
  5. ↑ Jorge Hernández-Camacho : Una subespecie nueva de Heteromys anomalus (Mammalia: Rodentia) . In: Lozania . tape 10 , 1956, pp. 1–15 (Spanish, p. 11): «Es muy grato dedicar la subespecie descrita a continuación, al Dr. Philip Hershkovitz, Curator of Mammals del Chicago Natural History Museum, en reconocimiento a sus meritorios trabajos adelantados en Colombia, y como sincero tributo de admiración y aprecio. "
  6. ↑ Robert J. Izor , Luis de la Torre : A New Species of Weasel (Mustela) from the highlands of Colombia, with Comments on the evolution and distribution of South American Weasels . In: Journal of Mammalogy . Vol. 59, No. 1, 1978, p. 92-102 , doi : 10.2307 / 1379878 (English).
  7. ↑ Bruce D. Patterson , Milton H. Gallardo , Kathy E. Freas : Systematics of Mice of the Subgenus Akodon (Rodentia: Cricetidae) in Southern South America, with the Description of a New Species . In: Fieldiana Zoology . New Series, No. 23, Publication 1355. Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago 1984 (English, biodiversitylibrary.org - p. 10): “We are pleased to name this species after our friend and colleague, Philip Hershkovitz, on the occasion of his 74th birthday Oct . 12, 1983, in tribute to his enormous contributions to South American mammalogy. ”
  8. ↑ Kubet Luchterhand , Richard F. Kay , Richard H. Madden : . Mohanamico hershkovitzi, gen et sp. Nov., un primate du Miocène moyen d'Amérique du Sud . In: Comptes Rendus Academies des Sciences Paris . Série II, Tome 303, No. 19, 1986, pp. 1753–1758 (English, French, p. 1757): “[…] to honor Dr. Philip Hershkovitz for his contributions to the study of Colombian and other South American primates. ”
  9. ^ Barry M. O'Connor: Host Associations and Coevolutionary Relationships of Astigmatid Mite Parasited of New World Primates . I. Families Psoroptidae and Audycoptidae. In: Bruce D. Patterson, Robert M. Timm (Eds.): Studies in Neotropical Mammalogy . Essays in Honor of Philip Hershkovitz (=  Fieldiana Zoology . New Series, No. 39). Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago 1987, p. 245–260 (English, biodiversitylibrary.org ).
  10. ↑ Osvaldo A. Reig : New species of Akodontine and Scapteromyine rodents (Cricetidae) and new records of Bolomys (Akodontini) from the upper Pliocene and middle Pleistocene of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina . In: Ameghiniana . Vol. 31, No. 2, 1994, p. 99–113 (English, p. 107): “The species is named for Philip Hershkovitz, as a homage to his remarkable contributions to the better knowledge of the South American Mammals.”
  11. ^ Robert M. Timm , Roger D. Price : Revision of the Chewing Louse Genus Eutrichophilus (Phthiraptera: Trichodectidae) from the New World Porcupines (Rodentia: Erethizontidae) . In: Fieldiana Zoology . New Series, No. 76, Publication 1456. Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago 1994 (English, ku.edu - p. 21): “Eutrichophilus hershkovitzi is named in honor of Philip Hershkovitz […]”
  12. ^ Robert A. Martin, H. Thomas Goodwin, James O. Farlow: Late Neogene (Late Hemphillian) Rodents from the Pipe Creek Sinkhole, Grant County, Indiana . In: Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology . Vol. 22, No. 1, 2002, p. 137-151 , doi : 10.1671 / 0272-4634 (2002) 022 [0137: LNLHRF] 2.0.CO; 2 , JSTOR : 4524201 (English).
  13. ↑ Kristofer M. Helgen , C. Miguel Pinto, Roland Kays , Lauren E. Helgen, Mirian TN Tsuchiya , Aleta Quinn , Don E. Wilson , Jesús E. Maldonado : Taxonomic revision of the olingos (Bassaricyon), with description of a new species, the Olinguito . In: ZooKeys . Vol. 324, 2013, pp. 1–83 , doi : 10.3897 / zookeys.324.5827 (English, p. 36): “The name honors American mammalogist Philip Hershkovitz (1909–1997), collector of the type series, Curator of Mammals at the Field Museum of Natural History ( 1947–1974; Emeritus Curator until 1997), and authority on South American mammals (Patterson 1987, 1997). ”

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Hershkovitz, Philip
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American mammal loge
DATE OF BIRTH October 12, 1909
PLACE OF BIRTH Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania
DATE OF DEATH February 15, 1997
Place of death Chicago , Illinois