Darrell John Kitchener (born 1943) is a biologist who has been active in mammalian research in
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to ...
and
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
. He is the author of over one hundred papers, published while employed as the senior research biologist at the
Western Australian Museum
The Western Australian Museum is a statutory authority within the Culture and the Arts Portfolio, established under the ''Museum Act 1969''.
The museum has six main sites. The state museum, now known as WA Museum Boola Bardip, officially re-op ...
, and described many new species of mammals during his 28 years in that position. Kitchener was born on 9 June 1943 in
Victoria, Australia
Victoria is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state with a land area of , the second most populated state (after New South Wales) with a population of over 6.5 million, and the most densely populated state in ...
. He obtained degrees in botany and zoological sciences at the
University of Tasmania
The University of Tasmania (UTAS) is a public research university, primarily located in Tasmania, Australia. Founded in 1890, it is Australia's fourth oldest university. Christ College (University of Tasmania), Christ College, one of the unive ...
and completed his Ph.D. at the
University of Western Australia
The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany, Western Australia, Albany an ...
. His works include contributions to the Australian Museum's ''Complete book of Australian mammals''.
The
specific epithet
In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...
for the freetailed bat ''
Mormopterus kitcheneri'' — found in the
Southwest Australia ecoregion and first described in 2014 — commemorates Kitchener "for his prolific contribution to elucidating the systematics of Indo-Australian mammals, especially bats".
References
1943 births
Australian zoologists
People from Victoria (Australia)
Living people
University of Tasmania alumni
University of Western Australia alumni
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