Randolph L. Peterson

Randolph Lee Peterson (born February 16, 1920 in Roanoke , Texas , † October 29, 1989 ) was an American-Canadian mammal loge . His main research interests were bats .

Life

Peterson was one of five children of Grandmas and Margaret Peterson, née Francisco. His career as a mammalogue began in 1937 when he enrolled in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife at Texas A&M College . For the next four years he was also assistant curator of the Texas Cooperative Wildlife Research Collection under the direction of William B. Davis . He learned the basics of collecting, cataloging, dissecting, and identifying vertebrates, as well as exhibiting specimens. After earning his Bachelor of Science degree in 1941 , he began graduate studies, but this was interrupted by the entry of the United States into World War II. He joined the United States Air Force and served as a pilot and instructor in the United States and as an operations officer with the Mediterranean Allied Air Force.

In 1942, Peterson married Elizabeth Fairchild Taylor, daughter of his mentor Walter Penn Taylor , mammaloge and professor of zoology at Texas A&M University . In April 1946, at a meeting of the American Society of Mammalogists in Pittsburgh, he met John R. Dymond , then director of the Royal Ontario Museum and professor of zoology at the University of Toronto . Peterson has been named associate curator of the mammals division of the Royal Ontario Museum and has participated in a Dymond-supervised doctoral program. He arrived in Toronto on June 5, 1946 and two days later left for a field study on moose in Algonquin Provincial Park . This research culminated in the publication of his first book North American Moose in 1955 .

After his promotion to Ph.D. in 1950, Peterson was appointed curator of the mammalian division at the Royal Ontario Museum, a position he held until his retirement in June 1985. At the University of Toronto he was appointed lecturer at the Institute of Zoology in 1949, associate professor in 1962 and full professor in 1968. During his retirement he continued to be associated with the Royal Ontario Museum as a curator emeritus and with the University of Toronto as professor emeritus . Under Peterson's direction, the Mammals Department continued a study of the mammalian fauna of Ontario begun in 1923 and expanded its inventory to include Quebec and the Maritime Provinces. In 1966 he published his second book, Mammals of Eastern Canada . However, his main interest was the bats. He built the Royal Ontario Museum's bat collection into one of the most important in the world, known not only for its size (more than 35,000 specimens) but also for the variety of species it contains.

In the 1950s, Peterson and his wife started a biological supplies company that they operated until 1974. He also developed devices such as automated calipers for measuring samples, an apple cider press, and a large skeleton cleaner.

From 1966 to 1968, Peterson was elected President of the American Society of Mammalogists, where he became a member in 1940 and an honorary member in 1986.

Peterson led research and collection expeditions to several areas including Mexico , the Southwest and Western United States, Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario, St. Ignace Island , the Slate Islands ( Lake Superior ), Cape Henrietta Maria ( Hudson Bay and James Bay ) and Eastern Ontario, West Quebec, Jamaica , Trinidad , Guyana , Belize , Kenya , Madagascar , Cameroon and Zimbabwe .

Peterson's bibliography includes nearly 100 professional articles, including 66 in peer-reviewed journals or as chapters in books, two books, nine reviews, six scientific brochures and ten popular science articles. Among its 38 articles about bats are the first descriptions of the taxa Nyctimene rabori , Vampyriscus Brocki , Miniopterus tristis grandis , Miniopterus tristis insularis , Miniopterus tristis propitristis , Miniopterus tristis celebensis , Harpyionycteris whiteheadi negro sensis , Neoromicia malagasyensis , Sturnira aratathomasi , Glauconycteris gleni and Glauconycteris kenya cola . He also published taxonomic revisions, reports on way of life and habitats, and expansions of distribution areas.

Dedication names

After Peterson are Peterson-free-tailed bat ( Pug peter soni ) from Cameroon and Ghana as well as the Peterson's bat ( Miniopterus peter soni ) from Madagascar named.

literature

• Judith L. Eger, Lorelie Mitchell: Obituary: Randolph Lee Peterson. Journal of Mammalogy 71 (4), 1990, pp. 707-713
• Elmer C. Birney, Jerry R. Choate: Seventy-five years of mammalogy, 1919-1994 , Special Publication No. II The American Society of Mammalogists, 1994. pp. 52-53

Web links

• Literature by and about Randolph L. Peterson in the WorldCat bibliographic database