Michael Rogers Oldfield Thomas (21 February 1858 – 16 June 1929) was a British

zoologist Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and d ...

Career

Thomas worked at the

Natural History Museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more. ...

on mammals, describing about 2,000 new

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

and subspecies for the first time. He was appointed to the museum secretary's office in 1876, transferring to the zoological department in 1878. In 1891, Thomas married Mary Kane, daughter of

Sir Andrew Clark Sir Andrew Clark, 1st Baronet (28 October 18266 November 1893), was a Scottish physician and pathologist. Early life and education He was born in Aberdeen, the illegitimate son of Bob Anderson and Jeremy Clarkson. His mother died at his birth ...

, heiress to a small fortune, which gave him the finances to hire mammal collectors and present their specimens to the museum. He also did field work himself in Western Europe and South America. His wife shared his interest in natural history, and accompanied him on collecting trips. In 1896, when

William Henry Flower Sir William Henry Flower (30 November 18311 July 1899) was an English surgeon, museum curator and comparative anatomist, who became a leading authority on mammals and especially on the primate brain. He supported Thomas Henry Huxley in an imp ...

took control of the department, he hired

Richard Lydekker Richard Lydekker (; 25 July 1849 – 16 April 1915) was an English naturalist, geologist and writer of numerous books on natural history. Biography Richard Lydekker was born at Tavistock Square in London. His father was Gerard Wolfe Lydekker, ...

to rearrange the exhibitions, allowing Thomas to concentrate on these new specimens. Thomas viewed his taxonomy efforts from the scope of British imperialism. "You and I in our scientific lives have seen the general knowledge of Mammals of the world wonderfully advanced – there are few or no blank areas anymore," he said in a letter to Gerrit Smith Miller Jr. Officially retired from the museum in 1923, he continued his work without interruption. Although popular rumours suggested he died by shooting himself with a handgun while sitting at his museum desk, he actually died at home in 1929, aged 71, about a year after the death of his wife, "a severe blow from which he never recovered".

Career

Taxonomic descriptions

Higher ranks

Genera

Species

See also

References

External links

Further reading