Edmund Heller (May 21, 1875 – July 18, 1939) was an American zoologist. He was President of the Association of Zoos & Aquariums for two terms, from 1935-1936 and 1937-1938.

Early life

While at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

, he collected specimens in the

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

and

Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert ( ; mov, Hayikwiir Mat'aar; es, Desierto de Mojave) is a desert in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Southwestern United States. It is named for the indigenous Mojave people. It is located primarily in ...

s in 1896-7 before graduating with a degree in zoology in 1901.

Contributions

In 1907, Heller was with Carl Ethan Akeley on the

Field Columbian Museum The Field Museum of Natural History (FMNH), also known as The Field Museum, is a natural history museum in Chicago, Illinois, and is one of the largest such museums in the world. The museum is popular for the size and quality of its educational ...

's African expedition. On his return, he was appointed Curator of Mammals at the

Museum of Vertebrate Zoology The Museum of Vertebrate Zoology is a natural history museum at the University of California, Berkeley. The museum was founded by philanthropist Annie Montague Alexander in 1908. Alexander recommended zoologist Joseph Grinnell as museum director, ...

of the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, ...

and participated in the 1908 Alexander Alaska Expedition. In 1909, Heller began working with the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

when he was chosen as naturalist for large mammals on the Smithsonian-Roosevelt African Expedition under the command of Colonel

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

. He worked closely with

John Alden Loring John Alden Loring (March 31, 1871 – May 8, 1947) was a mammalogist and field naturalist who served with the Bureau of Biological Survey, United States Department of Agriculture, the Bronx Zoological Park, the Smithsonian Institution and numerous ...

who worked as naturalist for the small mammals on the Expedition and they collaborated on their field notes. On his return from the expedition, he co-authored Life Histories of African Game Animals with Roosevelt. Heller also accompanied the Rainey African Expedition of 1911-1912 for the Smithsonian and led the Smithsonian Cape-to-Cairo Expedition of 1919-1920. Heller also participated in explorations in Alaska with the Biological Survey, in Peru with

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

and the

National Geographic Society The National Geographic Society (NGS), headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational organizations in the world. Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, and ...

, in China with the

American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. In Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 26 inter ...

, and in Russia with

Paul J. Rainey Paul James Rainey (September 18, 1877 – September 18, 1923) was an American businessman, philanthropist, hunter, and photographer. Biography Paul James Rainey was born September 18, 1877, in Cleveland, Ohio, the fifth of Eleanor Beatty (née ...

, official photographer to the Czech army in Siberia. From 1926 to 1928, he was curator of mammals at the

Field Museum of Natural History The Field Museum of Natural History (FMNH), also known as The Field Museum, is a natural history museum in Chicago, Illinois, and is one of the largest such museums in the world. The museum is popular for the size and quality of its educational ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. Edmund Heller was the director of the Washington Park Zoo in

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

(from 1928 to 1935) and the Fleishhacker Zoo in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

(from 1935 to 1939). He was also the president of the

AZA Aza or AZA may refer to: Places *Aza, Azerbaijan, a village and municipality *Azadkənd, Nakhchivan or Lower Aza, Azerbaijan *Aza, medieval name of Haza, Province of Burgos, Spain *Aźa, a Tibetan name for the Tuyuhun kingdom *Aza, a Hebrew roman ...

from 1935 to 1939. At the beginning of the 20th century he led many expeditions to Africa and in 1914 he wrote the book ''Life-histories of African Game Animals'' in collaboration with Theodore Roosevelt. Species and subspecies which were named in honor of Heller include the Southern Pacific rattlesnake ''( Crotalus helleri)'', Heller's coral snake ''( Micrurus lemniscatus helleri)'', a skink ''( Panaspis helleri)'', the red-necked keelback ''( Rhabdophis subminiatus helleri)'', Schmidt KP (1925). "New Reptiles and a New Salamander from China". ''American Museum Novitates'' (157): 1-5. ("Edmund Heller", p. 3). the

Taita thrush The Taita thrush (''Turdus helleri''), also known as the Taita olive thrush or Heller's ground thrush, is an endangered bird from the family of thrushes (Turdidae), endemic to the Taita Hills in Kenya. Description The Taita thrush was previously ...

''(Turdus helleri)'', and the

puna thistletail The puna thistletail (''Asthenes helleri'') is a species of bird in the family Furnariidae. It is found in Peru and Bolivia.Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2015. ''T ...

''(Schizoeaca helleri)''.

Popular culture

* Heller, played by

Paul Birchard Paul Birchard is an American actor who lives in Finland. He has appeared in film, television, stage and radio productions, most notably as Bud in ''Sweet Bird of Youth'' with the Royal National Theatre, Ross in ''The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?'' at ...

, appears in the TV series The Young Indiana Jones in an episode featuring the Smithsonian-African Expedition (1909-1910).

Literature

* *

References

External links

Edmund Heller biography by the AZA
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Heller, Edmund American mammalogists 1875 births 1939 deaths Stanford University alumni Scientists from California 19th-century American zoologists 20th-century American zoologists