Hampton Lawrence Carson (November 5, 1914 – December 19, 2004) was an eminent American biologist best known for his work on the

chromosomes A chromosome is a long DNA molecule with part or all of the genetic material of an organism. In most chromosomes the very long thin DNA fibers are coated with packaging proteins; in eukaryotic cells the most important of these proteins are ...

of new species of the fruit fly

Drosophila ''Drosophila'' () is a genus of flies, belonging to the family Drosophilidae, whose members are often called "small fruit flies" or (less frequently) pomace flies, vinegar flies, or wine flies, a reference to the characteristic of many speci ...

and his contributions to our understanding of their

evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

. Carson was born in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

and 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 ...

there at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

, receiving his A.B. degree in 1936 and his Ph.D. degree in 1943. His doctoral thesis on the cytogenetics of dark-winged

fungus A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from t ...

gnat A gnat () is any of many species of tiny flying insects in the dipterid suborder Nematocera, especially those in the families Mycetophilidae, Anisopodidae and Sciaridae. They can be both biting and non-biting. Most often they fly in large ...

s was considered "definitive" by

Dobzhansky Theodosius Grigorievich Dobzhansky (russian: Феодо́сий Григо́рьевич Добржа́нский; uk, Теодо́сій Григо́рович Добржа́нський; January 25, 1900 – December 18, 1975) was a prominent ...

. Carson spent virtually all of his career at two universities —

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...

(1943–1971) and the University of Hawaii (1971–1985) — except for sabbatical leaves to Brazil and Australia. Carson studied the population genetics and polytene chromosome polymorphisms of the highly diverse Hawaiian Drosophila, lineage of Drosophila species on the Hawaiian islands and proposed that speciation of these flies in the island chain was tied to isolation caused by formation of new islands. New species were slightly different from those in the nearest island, and progressively more different from those in more distant islands. Within islands, he argued that isolation between some species was caused by lava flows creating different forest patches or kipukas, and that reproductive isolation was accelerated due to within deme sexual selection. He was awarded the 1985 Leidy Award from the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. Although Hampton Carson retired from the University of Hawaii faculty in 1985, he remained active in research and continued living in Hawaii with his wife and colleague Meredith. He died in Hawaii.

References

External links

Hampton L. Carson/ 1914-2004: Geneticist earned praise for studies of isle fruit fly
obituary in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, January 8, 2005
Hampton L. Carson (1914–2004) Journal of Heredity 96(3), 285-286The Hampton L. Carson papers
at the American Philosophical Society
Alan R. Templeton, "Hampton Lawrence Carson", Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences (2011)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carson, Hampton 1914 births 2004 deaths American geneticists Population geneticists University of Pennsylvania School of Arts and Sciences alumni Washington University in St. Louis faculty Scientists from Philadelphia