Charles Cleveland Nutting
Encyclopedia
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United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
zoologist
Zoology
Zoology |zoölogy]]), is the branch of biology that relates to the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct...
, born in Jacksonville
Jacksonville, Illinois
Jacksonville is a city in Morgan County, Illinois, United States. The population was 18,940 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Morgan County....
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
. He graduated from Blackburn University (1880) and received the M. A.
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
degree from the same institution in 1882. He conducted various zoological expeditions—in Central America
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
for the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
(1882-84), in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
(1885), on the Saskatchewan River
Saskatchewan River
The Saskatchewan River is a major river in Canada, approximately long, flowing roughly eastward across Saskatchewan and Manitoba to empty into Lake Winnipeg...
(1891)—and was naturalist of the Albatross Hawaiian expedition in 1902. He was professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
of zoology and curator
Curator
A curator is a manager or overseer. Traditionally, a curator or keeper of a cultural heritage institution is a content specialist responsible for an institution's collections and involved with the interpretation of heritage material...
of the Museum of Natural History of the University of Iowa
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...
from 1886 to 1890 and thereafter was head of his department. Nutting's most important publications are systematic papers dealing with marine hydroid
Hydrozoa
Hydrozoa are a taxonomic class of very small, predatory animals which can be solitary or colonial and which mostly live in saltwater. A few genera within this class live in freshwater...
s, which appeared in the reports of the United States Commission of Fisheries and elsewhere and were reprinted, especially American Hydroids (part i, 1900; part iii, 1915). In this work Nutting described 124 new species and beautifully illustrated his monograph on American hydroids.
He is commemorated in the names of a number of animals, including
Nutting's Flycatcher
Nutting's Flycatcher
Nutting's Flycatcher, Myiarchus nuttingi, is a passerine bird in the tyrant flycatcher family. It breeds in semi-arid desert scrub and tropical deciduous forest from western Mexico to northwest Costa Rica...
Myiarchus nuttingi and the Nicaraguan Seed-finch
Nicaraguan Seed-finch
The Nicaraguan Seed-finch is a species of bird in the Thraupidae family. It is found in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Panama....
Oryzoborus nuttingi.
As museum director, Nutting was successful in attracting support from donors, politicians, university students and the public. He organized and lead expeditions to exotic destinations, always bringing home specimens, photographs and stories to his supporters.
Publications
- 1900-15. The American hydroids. Smithsonian Institution. United States National Museum. Special bulletin. 3 vols. Washington: Govt. Print. Off. On-line at the Biodiversity Heritage Library: