Results of the Puritan-American Museum of Natural History Expedition to Western Mexico. 2, Notes on Reptiles and Amphibians from the Pacific Coastal Islands of Baja California. American Museum Novitates

Results of the Puritan-American Museum of Natural History Expedition to Western Mexico. 2, Notes on Reptiles and Amphibians from the Pacific Coastal Islands of Baja California. American Museum Novitates PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Results of the Puritan-American Museum of Natural History Expedition to Western Mexico 2

Results of the Puritan-American Museum of Natural History Expedition to Western Mexico 2 PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 17

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Amphibians and Reptiles of Baja California, Including Its Pacific Islands and the Islands in the Sea of Cortés

Amphibians and Reptiles of Baja California, Including Its Pacific Islands and the Islands in the Sea of Cortés PDF Author: L. Lee Grismer
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520224175
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 418

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"Grismer brings together an impressive amount of original field and laboratory research, supplemented with a thorough review of existing literature, to present a first-rate accounting of the Baja California herpetofauna. This book sets the stage for further research of the reptiles and amphibians of this remarkable region."—Robert Hansen, Editor, Herpetological Review "Grismer is without question the foremost authority on the herpetofauna of the Baja Peninsula; no one else could have produced such a detailed, comprehensive treatment of the amphibians and reptiles of the area. The book stands as a monument to Lee's many years of dedicated work on the Baja herpetofauna and will be the standard reference on the subject for many years to come."—Julian C. Lee, author of The Amphibians and Reptiles of the Yucatán Peninsula

1957 Expeditions Journal

1957 Expeditions Journal PDF Author: Oakes A. Plimpton
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 1475989741
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 135

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Oakes Plimpton is retired and lives in Arlington Mass. with his wife Pat Magee. He had worked for The Nature Conservancy in D.C., and the Conservation Law Foundation in Boston, but dropped out in 1972 to spend a year on a communal farm in New York State chronicled in a iUniverse self-published book 1972 Farm Journal (stories of his younger partners also collected, with photographs and drawings). Still involved with farming, he volunteers for Boston Area Gleaners. He continues his interest in natural history, in particular bird watching, and was one of the co-founders of the Menotomy Bird Club in Arlington.

Research Catalog of the Library of the American Museum of Natural History: 59.59,6-59.81

Research Catalog of the Library of the American Museum of Natural History: 59.59,6-59.81 PDF Author: American Museum of Natural History. Library
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Natural history
Languages : en
Pages : 906

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Research Catalog of the Library of the American Museum of Natural History

Research Catalog of the Library of the American Museum of Natural History PDF Author: American Museum of Natural History. Library
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Natural history
Languages : en
Pages : 796

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Desert Biology

Desert Biology PDF Author: G. W. Brown
Publisher: Elsevier
ISBN: 148322371X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 654

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Desert Biology: Special Topics on the Physical and Biological Aspects on Arid Regions, Volume I covers the biology, geophysical characteristics, and ways of life in arid regions. This book is composed of 11 chapters, and begins with a brief description of a desert community, the Merkhiyat Jebels, with its diverse fauna and flora. The subsequent chapters look into the climate, geographical distribution, geologic and geomorphic aspects, and the evolution of desert community. These topics are followed by intensive discussions on desert plants, animals, and limnology. The last chapter describes the adaptive processes and human adaptation capacity to arid environments. This book will prove useful to upper division and graduate students in desert biology.

Snakes of the World

Snakes of the World PDF Author: Van Wallach
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1482208474
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 1260

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Snakes of the World: A Catalogue of Living and Extinct Species—the first catalogue of its kind—covers all living and fossil snakes described between 1758 and 2012, comprising 3,509 living and 274 extinct species allocated to 539 living and 112 extinct genera. Also included are 54 genera and 302 species that are dubious or invalid, resulting in recognition of 705 genera and 4,085 species. Features: Alphabetical listings by genus and species Individual accounts for each genus and species Detailed data on type specimens and type localities All subspecies, synonyms, and proposed snake names Distribution of species by country, province, and elevation Distribution of fossils by country and geological periods Major taxonomic references for each genus and species Appendix with major references for each country Complete bibliography of all references cited in text and appendix Index of 12,500 primary snake names The data on type specimens includes museum and catalog number, length and sex, and collector and date. The listed type localities include restrictions and corrections. The bibliography provides complete citations of all references cited in the text and appendix, and taxonomic comments are given in the remarks sections. This standard reference supplies a scientific, academic, and professional treatment of snakes—appealing to conservationists and herpetologists as well as zoologists, naturalists, hobbyists, researchers, and teachers.

A History of Herpetology at the American Museum of Natural History

A History of Herpetology at the American Museum of Natural History PDF Author: Charles W. Myers
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Amphibians
Languages : en
Pages : 238

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Those who use and care for collections are subtly hindered if they lack understanding of the history of their collections. The present work provides a frame of reference for the American Museum's accumulations of Recent amphibians and reptiles for the department established to curate and use them. The herpetological holdings began in 1869 with purchase of the collection of Maximilian, Prince of Wied-Neuwied, and additional specimens began accumulating from other sources. But the signature and scope of the collection were most importantly determined by the explosion of expeditionary fever at the American Museum in early 20th century and by establishment of a department with curators charged with organizing and studying the incoming collections. A Department of Ichthyology and Herpetology was formalized in 1909 and later split in 1920. The original department had three ichthyologists and one herpetologist--Mary Cynthia Dickerson, who also served as editor of the American Museum Journal (= Natural History as of 1919) and as Curator of the old Department of Woods and Forestry. Despite an incredible workload, Dickerson threw herself into both herpetological exhibition work and collection building--two parts of a calculated tripartite effort at establishing a major herpetology department that could stand on its own with the older departments of the Museum. The third part of Dickerson's evolving program was a conscientious attempt at building a library and center for herpetological research. Frustrated in finding time for her own investigations, she deliberately sought young scholars who could independently conduct both field-work and collection-based research. She sent Emmett Reid Dunn on his first collecting trip and, by 1916-1917, Dickerson had attracted to her cause assistants Karl Patterson Schmidt, Gladwyn Kingsley Noble, and Charles Lewis Camp. In a few years, with interruption for military service, Dickerson's "triumvirate" was accomplishing work that would establish the department as the major research center that she had envisioned. Concurrent with her editorship of Natural History and her curatorship of Woods and Forestry, Dickerson established a robust program of herpetological exhibition and research in only a decade. Herpetology--her Department--was officially separated from Ichthyology in February 1920. But Dickerson had been losing a perilous grip on her sanity and, on Christmas Eve of that year, was committed to an asylum, where she died three years later at age 57. Assistant Curator G.K. Noble, age 27, was given formal charge of the Department beginning in 1921. Although K.P. Schmidt had resigned earlier, Noble arranged for Schmidt's return to help in a difficult transition, during which Noble completed his Ph.D. dissertation and Schmidt brought Dickerson's research to conclusion. Schmidt gave his final resignation in 1922, in order to take charge of the new Division of Reptiles and Amphibians at the Field Museum of Natural History. Noble inherited Dickerson's departmental philosophy and continued her emphasis on exhibition and on building the collection and bibliographic files, although his own research expanded dramatically. Noble never abandoned interest in fieldwork, anatomy, and collection-based systematics, but he combined those pursuits with increasing attention to laboratory-based, experimental investigations using techniques of endocrinology and neurology. In 1928, he received offers for positons at Cornell University and at Columbia University, the latter to replace geneticist Thomas Hunt Morgan (who was later awarded a Nobel Prize for his work at Columbia). With support from President Henry Fairfield Osborn and trustee Douglas Burden, Noble's request for new facilities was approved and he stayed at the Museum. The Department was renamed the Department of Herpetology and Experimental Biology in 1928, with Experimental Biology being split off as a separate department in 1933. Although Herpetology came to suffer as a result, Noble remained Curator of both departments until his death in December 1940 at age 47. Noble's "abrasive personality" has given rise to legends that do not stand up under examination, in particular the published claims that he was responsible for firing Assistant Curator Clifford H. Pope in 1935--the year of publication of Pope's Reptiles of China. Over Noble's protest, Pope was dismissed by Director Roy Chapman Andrews, who had become antipathetic to Noble's operation (ostensibly for budgetary reasons) after Osborn's departure as President. Charles M. Bogart, hired in 1936, became "Assistant Curator (In Charge)" of the Department of Herpetology after Noble's unexpected death in 1940. A new Director, Albert Parr, introduced the departmental title "Chairman" in 1942. Parr at that time also dissolved the Department of Vertebrate Paleontology and appointed Edwin H. Colbert as Chair of a new Department of Amphibians and Reptiles that included dinosaurs as well as pickled newts, despite George Gaylord Simpson's protest that "paleoherpetology and paleomammalogy have much more in common than either one has with its corresponding neozoological specialty." This was only one of several departmental reorganizations to which Herpetology and other departments have been subjected by administrative fiat, usually with noticeable loss of efficiency. Another reorganization followed shortly, with Bogert installed as Chairman. James A. Oliver was hired as Assistant Curator in 1942, but, after interruption for military service, he resigned in 1948 owing to deteriorating Museum finances. With Bogert's encouragement, Oliver later returned to New York as Curator of Reptiles at the New York Zoological Society; he subsequently served as Director of the American Museum from 1959 to 1969. In replacing Parr as Director, Oliver brought a renewed commitment to systematics in the Museum. Bogert's career (see Myers and Zweifel, 1993) needs to be understood in the larger context of the history of the Department, which owes much to his dedication and stabilizing influence at a time when Parr was de-emphasizing collections. Except for a few war-interrupted years with Assistant Curator Oliver, Bogert was the only Curator in Herpetology from 1940 to 1954. He held the collection as a reasonably well-curated unit during a long period of economic stress and severe understaffing. Richard G. Zweifel was hired as Assistant Curator in 1954. His term of chairmanship (1968-1980) is taken as the beginning of a "modern" age in the Department, which has continued to expand its collections and improve on the quality of their care. The evolution of curatorial procedure and specimen cataloguing is discussed; the catalogue data were transferred to an electronic database during 1992-1995. One reason for establishing a new department in 1909 had to do with the Museum's expanding exhibition program. Dickerson and Noble considered exhibition work to be of equal importance to research. Dickerson developed the concept of herpetological "habitat groups" (dioramas) by skillfully employing a variety of preparation techniques-especially wax casting-to create lifelike models engaged in vital activities within complex settings. In 1927, Noble opened a "Hall of Reptile and Amphibian Life" that incorporated Dickerson's habitat groups and many other newer, less elaborate groups and mounts; he developed the technique of paraffin infiltration to use the animals themselves as exhibited models. Noble's hall celebrated diversity and focused on isolated biological themes. Bogert and Zweifel built on this rich history by conceiving a more integrated exhibit that would stress the biology of amphibians and reptiles in parallel displays, a concept that eventually resulted in the 1977 "Hall of the Biology of Reptiles and Amphibians." Newer casts could be done in plastic, the best of which, if well painted, equaled in beauty the best of the old wax models. The herpetological exhibits and most curatorial research were made possible by Museum collecting activities. Insight is provided on early departmental fieldwork--a time when night collecting was a "new" technique made feasible by the introduction of acetylene (carbide) and electric lamps. Also discussed are some of the Museum's multidisciplinary expeditions, several of which continued for years. The Museum's great expeditionary period lasted at the outside from 1910 to 1940. Despite the Great Depression, the number of expeditions peaked not in the 1920's (about 114 starts) but in the 1930s (141 starts), owing to increasing numbers of independently financed expeditions conducted under Museum auspices. Any revival of the Era of Great Expeditions after World War II was precluded by a complex of factors, including changing administrative and economic environments in the Museum, as well as the coming age of the airplane and automotive transport. Logistically complicated expeditions were largely replaced by field trips that could more readily be initiated by the curators. The few expeditions still being organized are nostalgic reminders of another time, when collections now irreplaceable were being gathered from around the globe.

Baja California II, 1535-1964

Baja California II, 1535-1964 PDF Author: Ellen C. Barrett
Publisher: Los Angeles : Westernlore Press
ISBN:
Category : Baja California (Mexico : Peninsula)
Languages : en
Pages : 280

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