Peter Grubb (1942 - 23 December 2006) was an English zoologist. He often collaborated with

Colin Groves Colin Peter Groves (24 June 1942 – 30 November 2017) was a British-Australian biologist and anthropologist. Groves was Professor of Biological Anthropology at the Australian National University in Canberra, Australia. Education Born in Englan ...

and described several new mammal taxa including '' Felis margarita harrisoni'' (a subspecies of the

sand cat The sand cat (''Felis margarita'') is a small wild cat that inhabits sandy and stony deserts far from water sources. With its sandy to light grey fur, it is well camouflaged in a desert environment. Its head-and-body length ranges from with a ...

), the

Bornean yellow muntjac The Bornean yellow muntjac (''Muntiacus atherodes'') is a muntjac species endemic to the moist forests of Borneo. Taxonomy It lives alongside the common muntjac. It is similar to its much more common cousin and was only recognised as a separate ...

, the Nigerian white-throated guenon, '' Cephalophus nigrifrons hypoxanthus'', the

white-legged duiker The white-legged duiker (''Cephalophus crusalbum'') is a medium-sized antelope species from the subfamily of duikers (''Cephalophinae'') within the family of bovids (Bovidae). It is native to Gabon and the Republic of the Congo. It was described ...

, '' Cephalophus silvicultor curticeps'', '' Cephalophus weynsi lestradei'', the

Kashmir musk deer The Kashmir musk deer (''Moschus cupreus'') is an endangered species of musk deer native to Afghanistan, India, and Pakistan. Recent studies have shown that the species is also native to western Nepal. This species was originally described as a su ...

, and the

Niger Delta red colobus The Niger Delta red colobus (''Piliocolobus epieni'') is a critically endangered species of colobus monkey endemic to the western part of the Niger Delta. It is threatened by hunting and habitat loss. Taxonomy From the time it first became kno ...

. Grubb was born in Dumfries in Scotland, but moved to Ealing

West London West London is the western part of London, England, north of the River Thames, west of the City of London, and extending to the Greater London boundary. The term is used to differentiate the area from the other parts of London: North London ...

when he was a small child. His father William Grubb was a research chemist at the

Imperial Chemical Industries Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) was a British chemical company. It was, for much of its history, the largest manufacturer in Britain. It was formed by the merger of four leading British chemical companies in 1926. Its headquarters were at M ...

and later worked as a science teacher in London. His mother Anne Sirutis was a school teacher from

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

. His younger sister Katrina is an artist. After his

BSc A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

graduation in Zoology at the

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

Grubb was research assistant in the

Wellcome Institute The Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine (1968–1999) was a London centre for the study and teaching of medical history. It consisted of the Wellcome Library and an Academic Unit. The former was and is a world-class library collection ...

of the Zoological Society of London. In the 1960s he went to

St Kilda, Scotland St Kilda ( gd, Hiort) is an isolated archipelago situated west-northwest of North Uist in the North Atlantic Ocean. It contains the westernmost islands of the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. The largest island is Hirta, whose sea cliffs are the h ...

for three years where he studied

Soay sheep The Soay sheep is a breed of domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') descended from a population of feral sheep on the island of Soay in the St Kilda Archipelago, about from the Western Isles of Scotland. It is one of the Northern European short-tai ...

for his PhD thesis. For this work he received a special mention as runner-up for the Thomas Henry Huxley Award of the Zoological Society of London in 1968. In the same year he took part in the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

expedition to

Aldabra Aldabra is the world's second-largest coral atoll, lying south-east of the continent of Africa. It is part of the Aldabra Group of islands in the Indian Ocean that are part of the Outer Islands of the Seychelles, with a distance of 1,120 k ...

where he worked particularly on the

Aldabra giant tortoise The Aldabra giant tortoise (''Aldabrachelys gigantea'') is a species of tortoise in the family Testudinidae. The species is endemic to the islands of the Aldabra Atoll in the Seychelles. It is one of the largest tortoises in the world.Pritchar ...

s. Subsequently, he lectured at the

University of Ghana The University of Ghana is a public university located in Accra, Ghana. It the oldest and largest of the thirteen Ghanaian national public universities. The university was founded in 1948 as the University College of the Gold Coast in the Br ...

for twelve years. His main research field was the taxonomy and distribution of African mammals. In 1993 and 2005 he wrote the

Artiodactyla The even-toed ungulates (Artiodactyla , ) are ungulates—hoofed animals—which bear weight equally on two (an even number) of their five toes: the third and fourth. The other three toes are either present, absent, vestigial, or pointing poster ...

and Perissodactyla sections for the publication ''

Mammal Species of the World ''Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference'' is a standard reference work in mammalogy giving descriptions and bibliographic data for the known species of mammals. It is now in its third edition, published in late 2005, ...

''. He also contributed to ''

Mammalian Species ''Mammalian Species'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Society of Mammalogists. The journal publishes accounts of 12–35 mammal species yearly. The articles summarize the current ...

'', the journal of the

American Society of Mammalogists The American Society of Mammalogists (ASM) was founded in 1919. Its primary purpose is to encourage the study of mammals, and professions studying them. There are over 4,500 members of this society, and they are primarily professional scientists ...

. He published checklists of West African mammals (for instance for Sierra Leone, Gambia, and Ghana) and wrote several revisions, including on warthogs, gerenuks and buffalo. In 1993 he co-edited the IUCN publication ''Pigs, Peccaries, and Hippos: Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan''. In 1977 botanist

Francis Raymond Fosberg Francis Raymond Fosberg (20 May 1908 – 25 September 1993) was an American botanist. A prolific collector and author, he played a significant role in the development of coral reef and island studies. History Ray Fosberg was born in Spokane ...

named the ''

Portulaca ''Portulaca'' (, is the type genus of the flowering plant family Portulacaceae, with over 100 species, found in the tropics and warm temperate regions. They are known as the purslanes. Common purslane (''Portulaca oleracea'') is widely consume ...

'' variety ''Portulaca mauritiensis var. grubbii'' from

Cosmoledo Cosmoledo Atoll is an atoll of the Aldabra Group and belongs to the Outer Islands of the Seychelles, and is located southwest of the capital, Victoria, on Mahé Island. History The name ''Cosmoledo'' is said to honor a Portuguese navigator who ...

after Grubb which is now included in ''Portulaca mauritiensis var. aldabrensis''. In June 2006 he was honored with the

Stamford Raffles Award The Stamford Raffles Award is an award of the Zoological Society of London. It is "For distinguished contributions to zoology by amateur zoologists or professional zoologists in recognition of contributions which are outside the scope of their profe ...

of the

Zoological Society of London The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) is a charity devoted to the worldwide conservation of animals and their habitats. It was founded in 1826. Since 1828, it has maintained the London Zoo, and since 1931 Whipsnade Park. History On 29 ...

.Zoological Society of London announces winners of its annual awards
After two surgeries Peter Grubb died from

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

in December 2006. He was married and had two children.

Notes

References

Peter Grubb (1942–2006)
Collected Obituaries by John F. Oates, Colin Groves, Douglas Brandon Jones, Barry Hughes
Obituary at the Mammal Society
by

Derek Yalden Derek William Yalden (4 November 1940 – 5 February 2013) was an eminent British zoologist and academic. He was an Honorary Reader at the University of Manchester. After obtaining a 1st Class B.Sc. University College London in 1962, he compl ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Grubb, Peter 1942 births 2006 deaths 20th-century British zoologists Alumni of University College London