Professor Philip MacDonald Sheppard, F.R.S. (27 July 1921 – 17 October 1976) was a British

geneticist A geneticist is a biologist or physician who studies genetics, the science of genes, heredity, and variation of organisms. A geneticist can be employed as a scientist or a lecturer. Geneticists may perform general research on genetic processes ...

and

lepidopterist Lepidopterology ()) is a branch of entomology concerning the scientific study of moths and the three superfamilies of butterflies. Someone who studies in this field is a lepidopterist or, archaically, an aurelian. Origins Post-Renaissance, t ...

. He made advances in

ecological Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...

and

population genetics Population genetics is a subfield of genetics that deals with genetic differences within and between populations, and is a part of evolutionary biology. Studies in this branch of biology examine such phenomena as Adaptation (biology), adaptation, ...

in lepidopterans, pulmonate land

snails A snail is, in loose terms, a shelled gastropod. The name is most often applied to land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs. However, the common name ''snail'' is also used for most of the members of the molluscan class Gastro ...

and humans. In medical genetics, he worked with Sir Cyril Clarke on

Rh disease Rh disease (also known as rhesus isoimmunization, Rh (D) disease, and blue baby disease) is a type of hemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn (HDFN). HDFN due to anti-D antibodies is the proper and currently used name for this disease as the ...

. He was born on 27 July 1921 in

Marlborough, Wiltshire Marlborough ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in the English county of Wiltshire on the Old Bath Road, the old main road from London to Bath. The town is on the River Kennet, 24 miles (39 km) north of Salisbury and 10 miles (16& ...

, England and attended Marlborough College from 1935 to 1939. *1940 to 1945 -

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

Volunteer Reserve (prisoner-of-war from 1942 to 1945). Participated, as an earth-bearer, in one of the famous tunnel escapes; it is unclear whether this was the "Wooden Horse" escape, or the "Great" EscapeDictionary of Scientific Biography vol 17, supplement 2 pp 814–816 *1946 to 1948 - Studied

Zoology 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 ...

Worcester College Worcester College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in 1714 by the benefaction of Sir Thomas Cookes, 2nd Baronet (1648–1701) of Norgrove, Worcestershire, whose coat of arms w ...

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

. *1956 to 1959 - Lecturer at Liverpool University *1959 to 1962 - Reader at Liverpool University *1963 to 1976 - Professor of genetics at

Liverpool University , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...

*18 March 1965 - FRS *1974 -

Darwin Medal The Darwin Medal is one of the medals awarded by the Royal Society for "distinction in evolution, biological diversity and developmental, population and organismal biology". In 1885, International Darwin Memorial Fund was transferred to the ...

of 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 ...

*1975 - Linnean Medal (Gold Medal) for Zoology from 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 ...

Cyril Clarke Sir Cyril Astley Clarke, KBE, FRCP, FRCOG, (Hon) FRC Path, FRS (22 August 1907 – 21 November 2000) was a British physician, geneticist and lepidopterist. He was honoured for his pioneering work on prevention of Rh disease of the newborn, a ...

answered an advert in an insect magazine for swallowtail butterfly

pupa A pupa ( la, pupa, "doll"; plural: ''pupae'') is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in thei ...

that had been placed by Sheppard. They met and began working together in their common interest of lepidopterology. They also worked on Rh disease. In 1961 Sheppard started a colony of

scarlet tiger moth The scarlet tiger moth (''Callimorpha dominula'', formerly ''Panaxia dominula'') is a colorful moth belonging to the tiger moth subfamily, Arctiinae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae ...

s by the Wirral Way,

West Kirby West Kirby is a resort town on the north-west corner of the Wirral Peninsula in Merseyside, England, at the mouth of the River Dee. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Cheshire, to the north-east lies Hoylake, to the east Grange ...

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Mersey Estuary and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wi ...

, which were rediscovered in 1988 by

, who continued to observe them in his retirement to study changes in the moth population. Sheppard married Patricia Beatrice Lee in 1948. They had three sons. He died of acute

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...

on 17 October 1976.

References

*Sheppard P.M. 1958. ''Natural Selection and Heredity''. London: Hutchinson. last ed 1975. *Dictionary of Scientific Biography vol 17, supplement 2 pp 814–816 by J.R.G. Turner. *Biographical Memoires of Fellows of the Royal Society 1977 vol 23 pp 465–500, plate, by Sir Cyril Clarke. *Obituary Professor Philip M. Sheppard, D Phil, FRS (1921-1976) by J.R.G. Turner. Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society vol 31, no.3, pp. 205–212 (1977) ncludes list of publicationsbr>Biography and list of papers
1921 births 1976 deaths People from Marlborough, Wiltshire People educated at Marlborough College Fellows of the Royal Society Alumni of Worcester College, Oxford British evolutionary biologists English geneticists Academics of the University of Liverpool English lepidopterists Deaths from leukemia Royal Air Force personnel of World War II World War II prisoners of war held by Germany Linnean Medallists 20th-century British zoologists {{UK-scientist-stub