Alfred Brazier Howell (28 July 1886 – 23 December 1961) was an American zoologist, primarily a

mammalogist 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 system In biology, the nervous system is the highly complex part ...

. A. B. Howell was born in Catonsville, Maryland, the son of Darius Carpenter Howell Sr. (1820–1887) and his second wife Katherine Elinor Hyatt Howell. A. B. Howell attended

The Hill School The Hill School (commonly known as The Hill) is a coeducational preparatory boarding school located on a campus in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, about northwest of Philadelphia. The Hill is part of the Ten Schools Admissions Organization (TSAO). ...

in Pottstown, Pennsylvania for four years, graduating in 1905. He spent one year (1905–1906) at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

and then received no more formal academic education. In 1910 he moved to California, where he studied the birds of the

Channel Islands of California The Channel Islands () are an eight-island archipelago located within the Southern California Bight in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of California. The four Northern Channel Islands are part of the Transverse Ranges geologic province, ...

and the

Coronado Islands The Coronado Islands (''Islas Coronado'' or ''Islas Coronados''; en, Islands of the Coronation(s); Kumeyaay: Mat hasil ewik kakap) are a group of islands located off the northwest coast of the Mexican state of Baja California. Battered by the w ...

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

. In 1918 he went on a collecting expedition to

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

. In 1921 he became vice-president of the

Cooper Ornithological Society The Cooper Ornithological Society (COS), formerly the Cooper Ornithological Club, was an American ornithological society. It was founded in 1893 in California and operated until 2016. Its name commemorated James Graham Cooper, an early California b ...

. In 1922 he moved to

Washington D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

In 1923 and in 1924, he went on collecting expeditions in California. Howell worked from 1923 to 1927 as a scientific assistant with the United States Biological Survey. From 1928 to 1943 he taught anatomy at the Department of Anatomy of

Johns Hopkins School of Medicine The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (JHUSOM) is the medical school of Johns Hopkins University, a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1893, the School of Medicine shares a campus with the Johns Hopkins Hospi ...

. In 1929, with

Remington Kellogg Arthur Remington Kellogg (5 October 1892 – 8 May 1969) was an American naturalist and a director of the United States National Museum. His work focused on marine mammals. Early life and career Kellogg was born in Davenport, Iowa, and quic ...

, he organized the Council for the Conservation of Whales (also involved in the conservation of other marine mammals). Howell was vice-president from 1938 to 1942 and president from 1942 to 1944 of the American Society of Mammalogists. He married Margaret Gray Sherk in 1914. At the Cooper Ornithological Society, A. Brazier Howell, Harry R. Painton, and Frances F. Roberts have cash awards named after them. He died in Bangor, Maine.

Selected publications

* 1917
''Birds of the islands off the coast of southern California''
(The Club, Hollywood). * 1920
''A study of the California jumping mice of the genus Zapus''
(Berkeley). * 1926: ''A symmetry in the skulls of mammals'' (Washington). * 1926: ''Anatomy of the wood rat'' (The Williams & Wilkins company, Baltimore). * 1927: ''Revision of the American lemming mice (genus Synaptomys)'' (Washington). * 1927: ''Contribution to the anatomy of the Chinese finless porpoise'' (Washington). * 1929: ''Contribution to the comparative anatomy of the eared and earless seals'' (Washington). * 1929: ''Mammals from China in the collections of the United States National museum'' (Washington). * 1930
''Aquatic mammals; their adaptations to life in the water''
(C. C. Thomas, Springfield et Baltimore — reprinted in 1970 Dover Publications, New York). * 1932: ''The brachial flexor muscles in primates'' (Washington). * 1939: ''Gross anatomy'' (D. Appleton-Century company, New York and London). * 1944: ''Speed in animals; their specialization for running and leaping'' (University of Chicago press, Chicago — reprinted in 1965 by Hafner Pub. Co., New York).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Howell, Alfred Brazier American mammalogists 20th-century American zoologists Cetologists The Hill School alumni 1886 births 1961 deaths