Eleanor Mary Ord Laurie Isserlis (14 January 1919 - 17 March 2009) was a British mammalogist.

Early life

Laurie was born in 1919 to parents Elinor Beatrice Ord and

Robert Douglas Laurie (Robert) Douglas Laurie (27 October 1874 – 17 April 1953) was the founder and first president of the Association of University Teachers. Career He was born in Birkenhead and educated at Birkenhead School. He took a job in a bank until 1899 befo ...

. Her father was head of the Zoology Department at

Aberystwyth University , mottoeng = A world without knowledge is no world at all , established = 1872 (as ''The University College of Wales'') , former_names = University of Wales, Aberystwyth , type = Public , endowment = ...

from 1918 until his retirement in 1940.

Education and career

Laurie was the head of the Mammal Department at the

British Museum of Natural History The Natural History Museum in London is a museum that exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history. It is one of three major museums on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, the others being the Science Museum an ...

. She graduated from

St Hugh's College, Oxford St Hugh's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford. It is located on a site on St Margaret's Road, to the north of the city centre. It was founded in 1886 by Elizabeth Wordsworth as a women's college, and accepte ...

in 1942 with a Master of Science degree. In its 1949–1950 issue, the ''St Hugh's College Chronicle'' noted that she was appointed Senior Scientific Officer at the British Museum in its Zoology Department. She became a Fellow of the

Linnean Society of London The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature colle ...

in 1950; she withdrew from the Society in 1958.

Species described

Laurie described a number of new mammal species, including: *'' Dactylopsila tatei'' Laurie, 1952 *'' Microperoryctes papuensis'' (Laurie, 1952) *'' Hipposideros inexpectatus'' Laurie &

Hill A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct Summit (topography), summit. Terminology The distinction between a hill and a mountain is unclear and largely subjective, but a hill is universally con ...

, 1954 *''

Miniopterus shortridgei Shortridge's long-fingered bat (''Miniopterus shortridgei'') is a bat in the genus ''Miniopterus'' which occurs throughout Indonesia.Page 522, ''Mammal species of the world: a taxonomic and geographic reference, Volume 1'' By Don E. Wilson, DeeAn ...

'' Laurie & Hill, 1956

Selected publications

* * * *

Personal life

On 29 December 1949, she married

Alexander Reginald Isserlis Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

, who would become

Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister The Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is a senior official in the United Kingdom Civil Service who acts as principal private secretary to the prime minister of the United Kingdom. The holder of this office is ...

in 1970. Together, they had two daughters.

Honors

In 2009, Helgen and Helgen named a new species of mouse after Laurie, ''Pseudohydromys eleanorae'', recommending the common name of

Laurie's moss mouse Laurie’s moss mouse (''Pseudohydromys eleanorae'') is a species of mouse belonging to the family Muridae that is endemic to Papua New Guinea. It was first described in 2009. Habitat The species is found between 2740 and 3050 m in the Bis ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laurie, Eleanor Mary Ord 1919 births 2009 deaths British mammalogists Alumni of St Hugh's College, Oxford Women mammalogists British women biologists 20th-century British zoologists 20th-century British women scientists Employees of the British Museum Fellows of the Linnean Society of London