Vladimir Dinets is an American

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 ...

known for his studies of Crocodilian behavior and of numerous rare animals in remote parts of the world, as well as for popular writings in English and Russian.

Education

Dinets was interested in

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 ...

from an early age,Dinets V. Spontaneous development of hunting-like behavior in juvenile humans: a case study. ''Humanimalia'' 8:32-40
/ref> and was a winner of all-USSR Student Biology Olympics at

Moscow State University M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU; russian: Московский государственный университет имени М. В. Ломоносова) is a public research university in Moscow, Russia and the most prestigious ...

.Archive of Moscow State University student biological olympics (in Russian)
/ref> However, due to his

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

ish ancestry, he was unofficially banned from entering that university,Dinets, V. ''Farewell, My Empire!'' AVP, Moscow, 1998, 220 pp. (in Russian) and obtained a master's degree in biological engineering from Moscow State Institute of Radio-engineering Electronics and Automation. Being strongly opposed to First Chechen War, Dinets emigrated to the United States in 1997, and in 2011 obtained a Ph.D from

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, i ...

(adviser Steven Green). Dinets maintained a popular bilingual blog on

LiveJournal LiveJournal (russian: Живой Журнал), stylised as LiVEJOURNAL, is a Russian-owned social networking service where users can keep a blog, journal, or diary. American programmer Brad Fitzpatrick started LiveJournal on April 15, 1999, a ...

, mostly defunct since the 2014 onset of

Russo-Ukrainian War The Russo-Ukrainian War; uk, російсько-українська війна, rosiisko-ukrainska viina. has been ongoing between Russia (alongside Russian separatists in Ukraine) and Ukraine since February 2014. Following Ukraine's Rev ...

, which caused him to cut off his ties with

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

, and has a websiteVladimir Dinets' website
/ref> with a number of illustrated essays on biology, conservation and travel.

Work

*Dinets' early zoological studies were conducted in remote areas of the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

, China and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

; he also participated in a number of conservation projects in

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

and

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

. In 1992 he solved the mystery of the ability of rock ptarmigans to winter on Arctic islands in total darkness: they survive by feeding on rich vegetation on sea cliffs where seabird colonies are located in summer.Dinets, V. Winter ecology of willow and rock ptarmigans at the northern limit of their range. ''Ornitologia'' 29: 326-327 (in Russian with English summary) *In 1996-1999 Dinets conducted a study of international trade in endangered

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three ...

s and consulted the governments of

Nepal Nepal (; ne, :ne:नेपाल, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in S ...

and

Sikkim Sikkim (; ) is a state in Northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Province No. 1 of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Silig ...

on the issue, providing a set of recommendations for improving anti-poaching and anti-traffic control.Dinets, V. Shadows around a lamp. ''Arguments and Facts'', December 19, 2001 (in Russian) *In 2000-2005 Dinets participated in studies of

marine mammals Marine mammals are aquatic mammals that rely on the ocean and other marine ecosystems for their existence. They include animals such as seals, whales, manatees, sea otters and polar bears. They are an informal group, unified only by their re ...

, as well as the natural circulation of

plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pe ...

on the Great Plains (at

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University o ...

) and Sin Nombre hantavirus in the

American Southwest The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado ...

(at the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...

). He also conducted a number of solo expeditions in North America,

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

and

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, and studied a few species of birds and mammals never before observed by scientists, such as

bay cat The bay cat (''Catopuma badia''), also known as the Bornean bay cat, is a small wild cat endemic to the island of Borneo that appears to be relatively rare compared to sympatric wild cats, based on the paucity of historical, as well as recent re ...

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and ea ...

,Dinets, V. First Photo of a Bay Cat in the Wild. IUCN/SSC ''Cat News'' 38: 5. woolly flying squirrel in the mountains of

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

,Dinets, V. Observations of the woolly flying squirrel ''Eupetaurus cinereus'' in Pakistan. ''Mammalia'' 75(3): 277-280.
/ref> and Cameroon scaly-tail in

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR; ; , RCA; , or , ) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast, South Sudan to the southeast, the DR Congo to the south, the Republic of th ...

.First observations on the behavior of the flightless anomalure (''Zenkerella insignis''). ''Zoology'' DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.zool.2017.06.003
/ref> *In 2005-2013 Dinets conducted a comparative study of

social behavior Social behavior is behavior among two or more organisms within the same species, and encompasses any behavior in which one member affects the other. This is due to an interaction among those members. Social behavior can be seen as similar to an ...

of Crocodilians, working in 26 countries. In 2005 he discovered "

alligator An alligator is a large reptile in the Crocodilia order in the genus ''Alligator'' of the family Alligatoridae. The two extant species are the American alligator (''A. mississippiensis'') and the Chinese alligator (''A. sinensis''). Additiona ...

dances". By 2010 he elucidated the roles of many signals used by Crocodilians,Dinets, V. Effects of aquatic habitat continuity on signal composition in crocodilians. ''Animal Behavior'' 82(2): 191-201.
/ref> and proposed their possible evolutionary history.''Dinets, V. The role of Habitat in Crocodilian Communication''
/ref> In 2009-2013 he documented the ability of crocodiles and

s to use coordination and role separation during cooperative huntingDinets, V. Coordination and collaboration in cooperatively hunting crocodilians. ''Ethology Ecology & Evolution'' DOI: 10.1080/03949370.2014.915432.
/ref> and to use sticks as lures for hunting birds looking for nesting material.Dinets, V., Brueggen, J. & Brueggen, J. Crocodilians use tools for hunting. ''Ethology Ecology & Evolution.'' 27: 74-78
/ref> He also conducted the first scientific studies of play behavior in

crocodilia Crocodilia (or Crocodylia, both ) is an order of mostly large, predatory, semiaquatic reptiles, known as crocodilians. They first appeared 95 million years ago in the Late Cretaceous period ( Cenomanian stage) and are the closest livi ...

ns and on coordinated hunting in snakes.Feb2017 Dinets_HH(7)_final.pdf Dinets, V. Coordinated hunting by Cuban boas. ''Animal Behavior and Cognition'' 4:24-29.
/ref> *In 2011 Dinets took part in WWF expedition to

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

to study

saola The saola (''Pseudoryx nghetinhensis''), also called spindlehorn, Asian unicorn, or infrequently, Vu Quang bovid, is one of the world's rarest large mammals, a forest-dwelling bovine native to the Annamite Range in Vietnam and Laos. It was descr ...

, and became the first zoologist to find and photograph saola tracks in the wild.Dinets, V. Tracking the mystery animal. ''Vokrug Sveta'' 2012(2) (in Russian)
/ref> *In 2012-2013 Dinets was a research associate at

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...

, working on

whooping crane The whooping crane (''Grus americana'') is the tallest North American bird, named for its whooping sound. It is an endangered crane species. Along with the sandhill crane (''Antigone canadensis''), it is one of only two crane species native to ...

reintroduction to

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

and studying behavioral ecology.Dinets, V. Crane dances as play behavior. ''Ibis'' 155: 424-425
/ref>Dinets, V. Predation on amphibians and reptiles by reintroduced whooping cranes (''Grus americana'') in Louisiana. ''American Midland Naturalist'' 175:135-138
/ref> *Since 2011 Dinets is a Research Assistant Professor at the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state ...

, where he is studying behavioral ecology and its applications to

conservation Conservation is the preservation or efficient use of resources, or the conservation of various quantities under physical laws. Conservation may also refer to: Environment and natural resources * Nature conservation, the protection and managem ...

.Burghardt GM, Dinets V & Murphy JB. 2014. Highly repetitive object play in a cichlid fish (''Tropheus duboisi''). ''Ethology'' DOI: 10.1111/eth.12312
/ref>Dinets, V. Can interrupting cultural transmission be beneficial? ''The Condor'' 117:624-628
/ref>Dinets, V. Trogloxeny in Caucasian parsley frog, ''Pelodytes caucasicus''. ''Herpetological Review'' 133:31-32
/ref>Dinets, V., Eligulashvili, B. Striped hyenas in gray wolf packs: cooperation, commensalism or singular aberration? ''Zoology in the Middle East'' 62:85-87
/ref>Dinets, V. Long-term cave roosting in the spectral bat (''Vampyrum spectrum''). ''Mammalia'' 81:529-531.
/ref>Dinets, V. Surface foraging in ''Scapanus'' moles: are there fully fossorial insectivorous mammals? ''Mammalia'' DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/mammalia-2016-0091
/ref>Dinets, V., Sanchez, M. Brown dippers (''Cinclus pallasi'') overwintering at -65°C in northeastern Siberia. ''Wilson’s Journal of Ornithology'' 129:397-400
/ref> He also worked on predicting the effects of possible invasions of brood parasites from

Eurasia Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelago ...

into North America.Dinets, V., Samaš, P., Croston, R., Grim, T., Hauber, M. E. Predicting the responses of native songbirds to trans-oceanic invasions by brood parasites. ''Journal of Field Ornithology'' 86:244-251
/ref> *In 2017-2021 Dinets was a Science and Technology Associate and later a Visiting Researcher at

Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology The is a private, interdisciplinary graduate school located in Onna, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. The school offers a 5-year PhD program in Science. Over half of the faculty and students are recruited from outside Japan, and all education and r ...

.OIST Science and Technology Group webpage
/ref>, working on behavior, ecology and conservation of birds and mammals in Asia.Dinets V. 2018. First record of Chinese Crested Tern (''Thalasseus bernsteini'') in Japan. ''Journal of the Yamashina Institute for Ornithology'' 50:1-3
/ref>Dinets V., Friedman NR, Masashi Y, Ogasawara M, Economo EP. 2020. Acoustic detection of an unknown bat species in Okinawa. ''Mammal Study'' 45:1-4
/ref>Kisleiko A, Dinets V, Grihchenko M, Kozlovskiy E, Khlyap L. 2020. The European mink (''Mustela lutreola'') on Kunashir Island: confirmed survival 40 years after introduction. ''Mammal Study'' 47:1-10
/ref>Dinets V. 2021. Surface feeding in Kogiid whales. ''Aquatic Mammals'' 47:111-113
/ref>Dinets V., Asada K. 2021. Noble savages: the natural history of human-independent Rattus rats in Japan. ''Journal of Natural History'' 54:2391-2414
/ref>Dinets V, Maikov M. 2022. Long-tailed bandicoot rat is not extinct. ''Zoology in the Middle East'' 54:2391-2414
/ref> During that time he participated in OKEON ProjectOKEON Project webpage
/ref> conducting a long-term study of Okinawa ecosystems, and discovered the first case of permanent endothermy in an invertebrates (semi-sessile lanternflies); that discovery has important implications for paleontology, evolutionary physiology, and invasive species control.Dinets V. 2021. First case of endothermy in semi-sessile animals. 337:111-114. ''Journal of Experimental Biology A - Ecological and Integrative Physiology'' 337:111-114
/ref> *Since 2022 Dinets is teaching Mathematics at

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...

.Rutgers University webpage
/ref>, while continuing research on behavioral ecology and conservation.

Books

*In 1993-1997 Dinets wrote a number of books about travel that remain popular in Russia.Academy of Free Travel (in Russian)
/ref> *Volumes of ''Encyclopedia of Russian Nature'' series, Actual Biology Fund, 26,000 copies published:ABF books catalog (in Russian)
/ref> A. Beme, A. Cherenkov, V. Dinets, V. Flint. ''Birds of Russia'' (1995); V. Dinets, E. Rotshild. ''Mammals of Russia'' (1997); V. Dinets, E. Rotshild. ''Domestic Animals'', 1998. *J. Newell (ed.) ''The Russian Far East: A Reference Guide for Conservation and Development''.J. Newell (ed.) ''The Russian Far East: A Reference Guide for Conservation and Development.'' Daniel & Daniel Publishers (2004). *V. Dinets. ''Dragon Songs: Love and Adventure among Crocodiles, Alligators, and Other Dinosaur Relations'' V. Dinets ''Dragon Songs: Love and Adventure among Crocodiles, Alligators, and Other Dinosaur Relations''

Arcade Publishing Arcade Publishing is an independent trade publishing company that started in 1988 in New York, USA. It publishes American and world fiction and nonfiction. The company was started and run by Richard Seaver and his wife Jeannette.Weber, Bruce (J ...

(2013), softcover edition 2021 V. Dinets ''Dragon Songs: Love and Adventure among Crocodiles, Alligators, and Other Dinosaur Relations''

. *V. Dinets. ''Peterson Field Guide to Finding Mammals in North America'' (

Peterson Field Guides The Peterson Field Guides (PFG) are a popular and influential series of American field guides intended to assist the layman in identification of birds, plants, insects and other natural phenomena. The series was created and edited by renowned ornith ...

series) V. Dinets ''Peterson Field Guide to Finding Mammals in North America'' Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (2015). *V. Dinets. ''Wildlife Spectacles: Mass Migrations, Mating Rituals, and Other Fascinating Animal Behaviors'' V. Dinets ''Wildlife Spectacles: Mass Migrations, Mating Rituals, and Other Fascinating Animal Behaviors'' Timber Press (2016). *S. M. Doody, V. Dinets, G. Burghardt. ''The Secret Social Lives of Reptiles''S. M. Doody, V. Dinets, G. Burghardt. ''The Secret Social Lives of Reptiles'' Johns Hopkins University Press (2021).

References

External links

Vladimir Dinets, Website

Vladimir Dinets, Livejournal blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dinets, Vladimir Living people Ethologists 21st-century American zoologists American naturalists University of Miami alumni Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century Russian zoologists