Richard Van Gelder
Encyclopedia
Richard George Van Gelder (December 17, 1928 – February 23, 1994) was a prominent mammalogist who served as the Curator
of Mammalogy
for the American Museum of Natural History
in New York for more than twenty-five years. Among his accomplishments at the Museum of Natural History was the 1969 redesign of the Hall of Ocean Life featuring the blue whale which still hangs in the center of the hall. Among his colleagues in the Mammal Department at the AMNH were Karl Koopman
, Marie A. Lawrence, Guy Musser
, and Sydney Anderson.
In the late 1950s, while on the Puritan Expedition to the Baja Peninsula, he discovered a new species of vesper bat
commonly known as Van Gelder's Bat
. His later research included the study of the nyala in Mozambique. He was a President of the American Society of Mammalogists
.
He was the author of a number of mammalogy books including Biology of Mammals and Mammals of the National Parks as well as a large range of mammal related children's books such as Bats, Animals in Winter, The Professor and the Mysterious Box, The Professor and the Vanishing Flags, Monkeys and Apes, and Whose Nose Is This? He died in 1994 of acute monocytic leukemia.
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 Mammalogy
Mammalogy
In zoology, mammalogy is the study of mammals – a class of vertebrates with characteristics such as homeothermic metabolism, fur, four-chambered hearts, and complex nervous systems...
for the American Museum of Natural History
American Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History , located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States, is one of the largest and most celebrated museums in the world...
in New York for more than twenty-five years. Among his accomplishments at the Museum of Natural History was the 1969 redesign of the Hall of Ocean Life featuring the blue whale which still hangs in the center of the hall. Among his colleagues in the Mammal Department at the AMNH were Karl Koopman
Karl Koopman
Karl Koopman was a zoologist with a special interest in bats. He worked for many years in the Mammalogy Department of the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Species named after him include Monticolomys koopmani, Rattus koopmani, and Sturnira koopmanhilli.-Further reading:...
, Marie A. Lawrence, Guy Musser
Guy Musser
Guy Graham Musser is an American zoologist. His main research field is the subfamily Murinae, in which he has described many new species.Musser was born in Salt Lake City, Utah...
, and Sydney Anderson.
In the late 1950s, while on the Puritan Expedition to the Baja Peninsula, he discovered a new species of vesper bat
Vesper bat
Vesper bats , also known as Evening bats or Common bats, are the largest and best-known family of bats. They belong to the suborder Microchiroptera . There are over three hundred species distributed all over the world, on every continent except Antarctica...
commonly known as Van Gelder's Bat
Van Gelder's Bat
Van Gelder's Bat is a species of vesper bat in the Vespertilionidae family.It is found in Belize, Costa Rica, Honduras, and Mexico. It is monotypic within its genus...
. His later research included the study of the nyala in Mozambique. He was a President of the American Society of Mammalogists
American Society of Mammalogists
The American Society of Mammalogists was founded in 1919. Its primary purpose is to encourage the study of mammals and professions studying mammals. There are over 4,500 members of this society, and they are primarily professional scientists who emphasize the importance of public policy and...
.
He was the author of a number of mammalogy books including Biology of Mammals and Mammals of the National Parks as well as a large range of mammal related children's books such as Bats, Animals in Winter, The Professor and the Mysterious Box, The Professor and the Vanishing Flags, Monkeys and Apes, and Whose Nose Is This? He died in 1994 of acute monocytic leukemia.
Family
- Gordon Van GelderGordon Van GelderGordon Van Gelder is a Hugo Award-winning American science fiction editor. As of 2008, Van Gelder is both editor and publisher of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, for which he has twice won the Hugo Award for Best Editor Short Form...
, his son, is the editor of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. - Leslie Van GelderLeslie Van GelderLeslie Van Gelder is an archaeologist, writer, and educator whose primary work involves the study of Paleolithic Finger Flutings in Rouffignac Cave and Gargas Cave in Southern France....
, his daughter, is an archaeologist researching prehistoric Finger flutingFinger flutingIn prehistoric art, finger flutings are lines that fingers leave on a soft surface. Considered a form of cave painting, they occur in caves at least through southern Australia, New Guinea, and southwestern Europe, and were presumably made over a considerable time span including some or all of the...
. - Lawrence Van GelderLawrence Van GelderLawrence Van Gelder is an American journalist and instructor in journalism who has worked at several different New York City-based newspapers in his long career. Until 2010 he was senior editor of the Arts and Leisure weekly section of The New York Times...
, Van Gelder's brother, is a senior editor at The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
. - Russell Van Gelder, his son, is chairman of ophthalmology at the University of Washington in Seattle.
Published works
- A Taxonomic Revision of the Spotted Skunks (genus Spilogale) (1959)
- New Antrozous (Mammalia, Vespertilionidae) from the Tres Marías Islands, Nayarit, Mexico - by Richard George Van Gelder; Richard George ZweifelRichard G. ZweifelRichard George Zweifel is an American herpetologist, who has classified several species in the American Southwest. Zweifel worked at the American Museum of Natural History from 1954 to 1989, and was Herpetology Department Chairman from 1968 to 1980...
; Oakes Plimpton (Puritan-American Museum of Natural History Expedition to Western Mexico - 1957) (1959) - Marine Mammals from the Coasts of Baja California and the Tres Marías Islands, Mexico (Puritan Expedition) (1960)
- The Taxonomy and Status of Bats in Bermuda - by Richard George Van Gelder; David B. Wingate (1961)
- Physiological Mammalogy edited by William V. Mayer and Richard G. Van Gelder (1963)
- Animals in Winter by Henrietta Bancroft and Richard G. Van Gelder. Illustrated by Gaetano di Palma (1963, reissued in 1997)
- The Professor and the Mysterious Box - Illustrated by Harriett (Harvey House, 1964)
- Professor and the Vanishing Flags - Illustrated by Harriett (Harvey House, 1965)
- Bats - Illustrated by Tom Dolan (Follett, 1967)
- The Genus Conepatus (Mammalia, Mustelidae) : variation within a population - by Richard George Van Gelder; Hilde Kipp (1967)
- Biology of Mammals (Scribner, 1969)
- Monkeys and Apes - Illustrated by Walter Ferguson (Follett, 1970)
- "Whale on My Back" in Curator XIII (1970)
- Animals & Man, Past, Present, Future - Illustrated by John R. Lane. (1972)
- Whose Nose Is This? (Walker & Co., 1974)
- The Natural History of Nyala, Tragelaphus Angasi (Mammalia, Bovidae) in Mozambique - by José L. P. Lobão Tello and Richard G. Van Gelder (1975)
- Mammalian Hybrids and Generic Limits (1977)
- A Review of Canid Classification (1978)
- Talking to Animals: A New Look at Coloration (North Dakota State University, 1980)
- Mammals of the National Parks (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1982)
- State of the Mammals (Mammals in New Jersey) (1985)
- When Winter Comes (1987)
- The Gorilla Wore Pants: A Somewhat Magnified Exploration of the Ethnology and Ethology of a Natural History Museum (unpublished)