Theodore Sherman Palmer

Theodore Sherman Palmer

Theodore Sherman Palmer (born January 26, 1868 in Oakland , † July 24, 1955 in Washington, DC ) was an American zoologist .

Live and act

His father was Henry Austin Palmer (1842–1917), his mother Jane Olivia b. Day (1845-1910). In 1886 the family moved to Pomona where his father founded the Pomona Bank . His wish was that the firstborn Theodore would follow his career. He did this first during his vacation and shortly after graduating from college, but then other interests prevailed.

His hobbies in his youth included collecting stamps and collecting bird eggs and bird skins. After he moved from California , he donated his natural history collection to the California Academy of Sciences , but it was irretrievably lost to science in the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco . His stamp collection grew to 54,000 different stamps throughout his life and eventually went to the United States National Museum .

During his time as a collage he developed an interest in the range of flora and fauna of the California mountains at different altitudes. Since this was in line with the interests of Clinton Hart Merriam , director of ornithology and mammalogy at the United States Department of Agriculture , it was not too surprising that the two teamed up. Palmer was finally brought on board as a field researcher in 1889. But soon the fate of both men was to separate. Merriam planned an expedition to Death Valley and the adjacent areas to study the local biological relationships. As president him Benjamin Harrison in the early phase of the project in the Bering Sea convened -Commission to the fur seals to study Merriam broke to the Pribilof Islands , and left Palmer directing the Death Valley Expedition.

Reporting on Death Valley Expedition "commonly not considered a credit to their participants. Of the eight reports that in 1893 in North American fauna under the title The Death Valley Expedition. A Biological Survey Of Parts Of California, Nevada, Arizona, and Utah appeared , were four publicists who did not take part in the expedition. The botanical results were taken from the National Herbarium . Another first part was to be published on mammals, but it never appeared. Palmer himself wrote the chapter List of Localities in The Death Valley Expedition, followed in 1948 by Place Names of the Death Valley Region in California and Nevada and in 1952 Chronology of the Death Valley Region in California, 1849–1949 , all publications financed by Palmer through private funds, and over the years Palmer collected everything he knew the Death Valley "could find. This collection of books, maps, and manuscripts eventually went to Henry Edwards' Huntington Library . Palmer was a passionate book collector. In his residence three rooms were full of books and scientific magazines. At his own will, the valuable library eventually went to the University of California .

When the World's Columbian Exposition was held in 1893 , it was Palmer who, on behalf of the Department of Agriculture in Washington, organized most of the administrative work with the shipping and return of the numerous exhibits, as his boss, Merriam, did not particularly appreciate this type of work. He served there from 1896 to 1902 and from 1910 to 1914 as assistant to the management. The time in Washington gave Palmer the opportunity to continue his education and so he achieved the title of MD at Georgetown University , even if Palmer never worked in medicine.

When there was political pressure on the Biological Survey to look at it from an economic point of view, Palmer published The Jack Rabbits of the United States to explain its impact on agriculture. In 1894, together with Edward William Nelson , he first described birds that were new to science. Most of his publications appeared in North American Fauna , with Index generum mammalium from 1904 being the most important contribution in this journal. The contribution was given in 1889 by Meriam with 250 names and expanded to around 4,500 names by Palmer. Thora Stejneger, the sister of Leonhard Hess Stejneger, supported him in his work . She made three trips to Europe to expand his list of knowledge to include other names from European libraries and to verify the reference work.

However, Palmer changed his area of ​​interest from scientific surveys to wildlife protection legislation. So he developed a branch for nature conservation in the department, which he led from 1902 to 1910 and from 1914 to 1916. This concern accompanied him throughout the rest of the time he was still active in the public service. He has published a number of works on this subject, which are titled Extermination of noxious animals by bounties , The danger of introducing noxious animals and birds , Hunting licenses: Their history, objects, and limitations , Private game preserves and their future in the United States and Chronology and index of the more important events in American game protection, 1776-1911 . Closely related to the topic were his publications Bird day in the schools , together with Henry Worthington Olds (1859–1925) Legislation for the protection of birds other than game birds , Laws regulating the transportation and sale of game , A review of economic ornithology in the United State , Some benefits the farmer may derive from game protection and Game as a national resource . Some of the publications were groundbreaking. B. The danger of introducing noxious animals and birds 1900 to a new law regulating the transport of harmful animals between states. Bird day in the schools strongly influenced the actions of the National Audubon Society . Under his leadership, a directory of all officials and organizations that dealt with the protection of wild animals and the hunting laws was created from 1901. These were the fruits of federal environmental protection that continued even after his death. Palmer was in charge of collecting conservation information, which he put together in the form of index cards. These served as important input for publications by Henry Worthington Olds (1859–1925) and Robert White Williams Jr. (1877–1940) and other conservationists. Palmer also worked closely with the AOU committee that dealt with the distribution, migration and economic value of birds and the protection of avifauna.

Palmer was considered an authority in the field of environmental protection. His advice had a major influence on legislative decisions. Part of his work can be found in the book Adventures in Bird Protection by Thomas Gilbert Pearson (1873-1943). Together with Pearson, he reactivated the National Association of State Game and Fish Wardens in 1924 .

With the help of Abbott Handerson Thayer , the AOU Bird Protection Committee established a seagulls and terns sanctuary in 1900 , which was promoted by the National Audubon Society and the Biological Survey and their successors the Fish and Wildlife Service . The Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge , a place where fishermen literally slaughtered birds, was one of the first projects tackled by Frank Michler Chapman , Dutcher and Palmer. They were assisted by Charles Lamartine Du Bois (1848–1932) and Frank Bond (1856–1940) from the Land Office of the United States . On March 14, 1903, Theodore Roosevelt's plan was passed by ordinance on the protection and breeding of native birds . The process was seen as a precedent and so inspired Frank M. Miller to similar projects for breeding areas in Louisiana, which were also supported by Bond, Palmer and Dutcher. By 1909 a further fifteen protected areas were created.

As a member of the AOU Biographies Committee, he wrote more biographical notes than anyone in the AOU before. When Edgar Erskine Hume wrote Ornithologists of the United States Army Medical Corp , it was Palmer who was instrumental in its success. Biographies of members of the American Ornithologists Union, 1884–1954 was another important work in this field, which came from his pen. The work earned him the nickname Thombstone Palmer , meaning tombstone Palmer.

For the last two and a half years of his life, Palmer was handcuffed to his home with a broken hip. He left with Bertha Marilla Palmer geb. Ellis (1877–) a widow whom he had married on November 21, 1911.

Memberships

At the 5th meeting of the AOU he was accepted by the Society and finally elected a Fellow in 1901 . Palmer served on the Board of Directors for Biographies since 1925 and served as Secretary of the AOU in 1917 and 1937.

Through the American Ornithologists' Union (AOU) he met George Bird Grinnell , who founded a predecessor organization of the Audubon Society . Even William Dutcher (1846-1920), the first of the Audubon Association founded, were among his acquaintances. When the board of directors met for the first time on January 30, 1905 . Palmer was elected second vice president. In 1908 the election of the second vice president followed. Palmer served on the board for 28 years until 1936. Since Palmer was always interested in his home country, he became a founding member of the Audubon Society of the District of Columbia in 1897, of which he served as president from 1921 to 1941. Upon retiring as President, Palmer was named President Emeritus for Life. While Wells Woodbridge Cooke (1858–1916) took care of the Society's outdoor activities, Palmer was responsible for internal events such as bird courses. Palmer's record of the company was given to the Washington Public Library.

Dedication names

In 1897, Clinton Hart Merriam used his name in the Palmer chipmunk ( Tamias palmeri ), which, as the leader of an expedition on Charleston Peak, helped to discover the type specimen. Harry Church Oberholser honored him in 1923 in Oreortyx picta palmeri , today a synonym for the nominate form of the mountain quail ( Oreortyx pictus ( Douglas , 1829)). Gerrhonotus scincicauda palmeri Stejneger , 1893, a synonym for the northern crocodile crawl ( Elgaria coerulea ( Wiegmann , 1828)), came from the collection of TS Palmer.

Publications (selection)

• List of Localities in the Death Valley Expedition. A Biological Survey of parts of California, Nevada, Arizona, and Utah Part II . In: North American Fauna . No. 7 , 1893, pp. 361–384 (English, biodiversitylibrary.org ).
• with Edward William Nelson: Descriptions of Five New Birds from Mexico . In: The Auk . tape 11 , no. 1 , 1894, p. 39–45 ( sora.unm.edu [PDF; 285 kB ]).
• Extermination of noxious animals by bounties in Yearbook of the United States Department of Agriculture 1896 . Government Printing Office, Washington 1897, p. 55-68 (English, babel.hathitrust.org ).
• Bird day in the schools . US Department of Agriculture, Washington 1896 (English, biodiversitylibrary.org ).
• The jack rabbits of the United States . Government Printing Office, Washington 1896 (English, biodiversitylibrary.org ).
• Random notes on the nomenclature of the Chiroptera . In: Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington . No. 12 , 1898, pp. 109-114 (English, biodiversitylibrary.org ).
• The danger of introducing noxious animals and birds in Yearbook of the United States Department of Agriculture 1898 . Government Printing Office, Washington 1899, pp. 87-110 (English, babel.hathitrust.org ).
• Notes on three genera of dolphins . In: Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington . No. 13 , 1899, pp. 23–24 (English, biodiversitylibrary.org ).
• Notes on Tatoua and other genera of Edentates . In: Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington . No. 13 , 1899, pp. 71-73 (English, biodiversitylibrary.org ).
• Legislation for the protection of birds other than game birds . Government Printing Office, Washington 1900 (English, archive.org ).
• with Henry Worthington Olds: Laws regulating the transportation and sale of game . Government Printing Office, Washington 1900 (English, archive.org ).
• A review of economic ornithology in the United State in Yearbook of the United States Department of Agriculture 1899 . Government Printing Office, Washington 1900, p. 259-292 (English, babel.hathitrust.org ).
• Some new generic names of mammals . In: Science (=  2 ). tape 17 , 1903, pp. 873 (English, biodiversitylibrary.org ).
• Index generum mammalium: A list of the genera and families of mammals . In: North American Fauna . No. 23 , 1904 (English, biodiversitylibrary.org ).
• Hunting licenses: Their history, objects, and limitations . Government Printing Office, Washington 1904, p. 55–68 (English, archive.org ).
• Some benefits the farmer may derive from game protection in the United State in Yearbook of the United States Department of Agriculture 1904 . Government Printing Office, Washington 1905, pp. 509-520 (English, babel.hathitrust.org ).
• Anmomys and other compounds of Mys . In: Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington . No. 19 , 1906, pp. 97 (English, biodiversitylibrary.org ).
• Private Game Preserves and Their Future in the United States . Government Printing Office, Washington 1910 (English).
• Chronology and index of the more important events in American game protection, 1776-1911 . Government Printing Office, Washington 1912 (English, archive.org ).
• Botta's Visit to California . In: The Condor . tape 19 , no. 5 , 1917, pp. 159–161 ( sora.unm.edu [PDF; 235 kB ]).
• Goudot's Explorations in Colombia . In: The Auk . tape 35 , no. 2 , 1918, p. 240–241 ( sora.unm.edu [PDF; 123 kB ]).
• Another Reference to Early Experiments in Keeping Hummingbirds in Captivity . In: The Condor . tape 20 , no. 160 , 1918, pp. 123–124 ( sora.unm.edu [PDF; 186 kB ]).
• Thirty-Sixth Stated Meeting of the American Ornithologists' Union . In: The Auk . tape 36 , no. 1 , 1919, p. 90–99 ( sora.unm.edu [PDF; 418 kB ]).
• Notes and News . In: The Auk . tape 36 , no. 3 , 1919, p. 449 (English, sora.unm.edu [PDF; 287 kB ]).
• The Thirty-seventh Stated Meeting of the American Ornithologists' Union . In: The Auk . tape 37 , no. 1 , 1920, p. 110–125 ( sora.unm.edu [PDF; 749 kB ]).
• Herbert Huntington Smith . In: The Nautilus . tape 37 , no. 4 , 1920, p. 637–638 (English, sora.unm.edu [PDF; 346 kB ]).
• Report of the Secretary . In: The Auk . tape 39 , no. 1 , 1922, pp. 95–99 (English, sora.unm.edu [PDF; 287 kB ]).
• Game as a national resource . Government Printing Office, Washington 1922 (English, archive.org ).
• The Forty-Fifth Stated Meeting of the American Ornithologists' Union . In: The Auk . tape 45 , no. 1 , 1928, pp. 70–82 ( sora.unm.edu [PDF; 618 kB ]).
• Notes on Persons Whose Names Appear in the Nomenclature of California Birds . In: The Condor . tape 30 , no. 5 , 1928, pp. 261–307 ( sora.unm.edu [PDF; 3.6 MB ]).
• Obituaries . In: The Auk . tape 53 , no. 3 , 1935, pp. 370–371 ( sora.unm.edu [PDF; 394 kB ]).
• Obituaries - Edward Bartlett . In: The Auk . tape 61 , no. 3 , 1941, pp. 504 (English, sora.unm.edu [PDF; 577 kB ]).
• Obituaries Edward Charles Stuart Baker . In: The Auk . tape 62 , no. 1 , 1945, p. 172–173 ( sora.unm.edu [PDF; 257 kB ]).
• Obituaries: Frederick Nutter Chasen . In: The Auk . tape 64 , no. 4 , 1947, pp. 660 ( sora.unm.edu [PDF; 565 kB ]).
• Obituaries: Hugh Whistler . In: The Auk . tape 64 , no. 4 , 1947, pp. 661 ( sora.unm.edu [PDF; 565 kB ]).
• Obituaries: Joseph Warren Jacobs . In: The Auk . tape 64 , no. 4 , 1947, pp. 661–662 ( sora.unm.edu [PDF; 565 kB ]).
• Obituaries: Richard Magoon Barnes . In: The Auk . tape 64 , no. 4 , 1947, pp. 662 ( sora.unm.edu [PDF; 565 kB ]).
• Obituaries: Otto C. McCreary . In: The Auk . tape 64 , no. 4 , 1947, pp. 663 ( sora.unm.edu [PDF; 565 kB ]).
• Obituaries: William Emerson Ritter . In: The Auk . tape 64 , no. 4 , 1947, pp. 665–666 ( sora.unm.edu [PDF; 565 kB ]).
• Place Names of the Death Valley Region in California and Nevada . TS Palmer, Washington 1948.
• Several Obibituries (William Clark Adams, Emeline Clark Bates, Frederick Monroe Dille, Murray Thompson Donoho, Lillie Rose Ernst, Pompeo Margherita Maresi, Robert Baird McLain, Annie Elizabeth Middaugh Falger, Edwin Lincoln Moseley, Clifford Hayes Pangburn, Clarence Bayley Riker) . In: The Auk . tape 67 , no. 4 , 1950, p. 547-550 ( sora.unm.edu [PDF; 270 kB ]).
• Obituaries - George Kruck Cherrie . In: The Auk . tape 68 , no. 2 , 1951, p. 260–261 ( sora.unm.edu [PDF; 337 kB ]).
• Obituaries - Oscar Neumann . In: The Auk . tape 69 , no. 2 , 1952, pp. 223–226 ( sora.unm.edu [PDF; 268 kB ]).
• Chronology of the Death Valley region in California, 1849-1949: an index of the events, persons and publications connected with its history . Byron S. Adams, Washington 1952.
• Biographies of members of the American Ornithologists Union, 1884-1954 . American Ornithologists' Union, Washington 1954 (English).

literature

• Waldo Lee McAtee: In Memoriam: Theodore Sherman Palmer . In: The Auk . tape 73 , no. 3 , 1956, pp. 367–377 (English, sora.unm.edu [PDF; 662 kB ]).
• Clinton Hart Merriam: Notes on the Chipmunks of the Genus Eutamias occuring west of the east base of the Cascade-Sierra System, with descriptions of new forms . In: Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington . No. 11 , 1897, p. 189–212 (English, biodiversitylibrary.org ).
• Harry Church Oberholser: Notes on the Forms of the Genus Oreortyx Baird . In: The Auk . tape 40 , no. 1 , 1923, pp. 80–84 (English, sora.unm.edu [PDF; 246 kB ]).
• Leonhard Hess Stejneger: Part V. Annotated list of reptiles and batrachians collected by Dr. C. Hart Merriam and Vernon Bailey on the San Francisco Mountain Plateau and Dessert of the little colorado, Arizona, with descriptions of new species . In: North American Fauna . No. 3 , 1890, p. 103-108 (English, biodiversitylibrary.org ).
• Leonhard Hess Stejneger: Annotated list of the reptiles and batrachians collected by the Death Valley Expedition in 1891, with descriptions of new species. In: North American Fauna . No. 7 , 1893, pp. 159–228 (English, biodiversitylibrary.org ).
• Keir Brooks Sterling, Richard Peter Harmond, George Anthony Cevasco, Lorne Fosler Hammond: Biographical Dictionary of American and Canadian Naturalists and Environmentalists . Greenwood Press, Westport 1997, ISBN 0-313-23047-1 , pp. 608–609 (English, books.google.de ).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Waldo Lee McAtee (1956), p. 367.
2. ^ ^{A b} Waldo Lee McAtee (1956), p. 368.
3. ^ Waldo Lee McAtee (1956), p. 369.
4. ^ Waldo Lee McAtee (1956), p. 370.
5. ^ ^{A b} Waldo Lee McAtee (1956), p. 371.
6. ^ ^{A b} Waldo Lee McAtee (1956), p. 376.
7. ↑ Keir Brooks Sterling et al. a. (1997), p. 608.
8. ^ Clinton Hart Merriam (1897), p. 208.
9. ^ Harry Church Oberholser (1923), p. 84.
10. ^ Leonhard Hess Stejneger (1890), p. 106.
11. ↑ Leonhard Hess Stejneger (1890) No. 7, p. 196.

Remarks

1. ↑ Bo Beolens, Michael Watkins & Michael Grayson also erroneously attributed the side spot iguana species Uta palmeri ( Stejneger , 1893) in their book The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles . The type specimen came from Dr. Edward Palmer (1831-1911).