Walter Reginald Brook Oliver (7 September 1883 – 16 May 1957) was a New Zealand naturalist, ornithologist,

malacologist Malacology is the branch of invertebrate zoology that deals with the study of the Mollusca (mollusks or molluscs), the second-largest phylum of animals in terms of described species after the arthropods. Mollusks include snails and slugs, clams, ...

, and museum

curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

Biography

Born in Launceston, Tasmania, Oliver emigrated with his family to New Zealand in 1896, settling in

Tauranga Tauranga () is a coastal city in the Bay of Plenty region and the fifth most populous city of New Zealand, with an urban population of , or roughly 3% of the national population. It was settled by Māori late in the 13th century, colonised by ...

. Having already developed an interest in nature during his childhood, he systematically recorded natural observations throughout much of his life, joining other naturalists on an expedition to the

Kermadec Islands The Kermadec Islands ( mi, Rangitāhua) are a subtropical island arc in the South Pacific Ocean northeast of New Zealand's North Island, and a similar distance southwest of Tonga. The islands are part of New Zealand. They are in total ar ...

in 1908. In 1910, Oliver became a member of the

Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union The Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union (RAOU), now part of BirdLife Australia, was Australia's largest non-government, non-profit, bird conservation organisation. It was founded in 1901 to promote the study and conservation of the native b ...

(RAOU) for which body he served as branch secretary for New Zealand from 1914 to his death in 1957, a period of office of 43 years. During this period, he also served as RAOU vice-president from 1942 to 1943, and as president from 1943 to 1944. Oliver was appointed director of the

Dominion Museum The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. ''Te Papa Tongarewa'' translates literally to "container of treasures" or in full "container of treasured things and people that spring fr ...

in 1928, and in 1930, he published the seminal guide ''New Zealand Birds'', which was updated and expanded in 1955. The guide contained many colour plates by Lily Attey Daff, although she was not credited with the work. Oliver retired from the position of director in 1946. Oliver was active in numerous scientific societies, and was a prolific contributor to New Zealand scientific literature over his career. He was government representative on the Council of the

Royal Society of New Zealand Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a c ...

for many years, its president from 1952 to 1954, and editor of its ''Transactions'' from 1948 to 1954. Oliver described several

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 ...

new to science, including: *

Snares penguin The Snares penguin (''Eudyptes robustus''), also known as the Snares crested penguin and the Snares Islands penguin, is a penguin from New Zealand. The species breeds on the Snares Islands, a group of islands off the southern coast of the South ...

* '' Calliostoma waikanae'', a sea snail *

Shepherd's beaked whale Shepherd's beaked whale (''Tasmacetus shepherdi''), also commonly called Tasman's beaked whale or simply the Tasman whale, is a cetacean of the family Ziphiidae and the only species in the genus ''Tasmacetus''. The whale has not been studied ...

A species of New Zealand lizard, ''

Oligosoma oliveri The marbled skink (''Oligosoma oliveri'') is a species of skink in the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to New Zealand. Etymology The specific name, ''oliveri'', is in honor of New Zealand ornithologist Walter Oliver.Beolens, Bo; Watki ...

'', is named in his honour. In 1935, Oliver was awarded the King George V Silver Jubilee Medal.

References

External links

WRB Oliver
from Encyclopedia of New Zealand (1966)

in ''

Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand The ''Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand'' was a scientific journal and magazine published by the Royal Society of New Zealand. Before 1933 the society was called the New Zealand Institute, and the journal's name was ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Oliver, Walter 1883 births 1957 deaths New Zealand curators New Zealand malacologists New Zealand naturalists New Zealand ornithologists People from Tauranga Victoria University of Wellington alumni People from Launceston, Tasmania Presidents of the Royal Society of New Zealand Australian emigrants to New Zealand New Zealand paleontologists 20th-century New Zealand zoologists

Biography

References

Further reading

External links