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Graham S. Cowles
Graham Stewart Cowles (27 June 1931 – 19 January 2024) was a British ornithologist and paleornithologist. Life and career In January 1949, Cowles joined the bird department of the Natural History Museum in London as an assistant. He then served in the British Armed Forces for 2 years from January 1950. From 1952, as a curatorial Assistant, he was assigned to the avian osteology collection of the British Museum (Natural History). In 1961, he accompanied Peter Colston on an expedition to Andalusia and from 1962 to 1963 and 1965, he joined expeditions to Australia, financed by Australian zoologist and philanthropist Harold Wesley Hall (1888–1964). From 1971, he transferred the bird collections to the Natural History Museum at Tring where they were curated and supervised by Colston and Cowles. In January 1977 he was appointed Senior Scientific Officer and after I.C.J. Galbraith retired in 1985, Cowles became head curator of the bird collection until his own retirement at th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ornithologist
Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is a branch of zoology dedicated to the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and the aesthetic appeal of birds. It has also been an area with a large contribution made by amateurs in terms of time, resources, and financial support. Studies on birds have helped develop key concepts in biology including evolution, behaviour and ecology such as the definition of species, the process of speciation, instinct, learning, ecological niches, guilds, insular biogeography, phylogeography, and conservation. While early ornithology was principally concerned with descriptions and distributions of species, ornithologists today seek answers to very specific questions, often using birds as models to test hypotheses or predictions based on theories. Most modern biological theories apply ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mascarene Islands
The Mascarene Islands (, ) or Mascarenes or Mascarenhas Archipelago is a group of islands in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar consisting of islands belonging to the Republic of Mauritius as well as the French department of Réunion. Their name derives from the Portuguese navigator Pedro Mascarenhas, who first visited them in April 1512. The islands share a common geological origin beneath the Mascarene Plateau known as the Mauritia microcontinent which was a Precambrian microcontinent situated between India and Madagascar until their separation about 70 million years ago. They form a distinct ecoregion with unique biodiversity and endemism of flora and fauna. Geography The archipelago comprises three large islands, Mauritius, Réunion, and Rodrigues, plus a number of volcanic remnants in the tropics of the southwestern Indian Ocean, generally between 700 and 1,500 kilometres east of Madagascar. The terrain includes a variety of reefs, atolls, and small islands. They pres ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2024 Deaths
This is a list of lists of deaths of notable people, organized by year. New deaths articles are added to their respective month (e.g., Deaths in ) and then linked below. 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1990 1989 1988 1987 1986 Earlier years ''Deaths in years earlier than this can usually be found in the main articles of the years.'' See also * Lists of deaths by day * Deaths by year (category) {{DEFAULTSORT:deaths by year ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1931 Births
Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir Isaac Isaacs is sworn in as the first Australian-born Governor-General of Australia. * January 25 – Mohandas Gandhi is again released from imprisonment in India. * January 27 – Pierre Laval forms a government in France. * January 30 – Charlie Chaplin comedy drama film ''City Lights'' receives its public premiere at the Los Angeles Theater with Albert Einstein as guest of honor. Contrary to the current trend in cinema, it is a silent film, but with a score by Chaplin. Critically and commercially successful from the start, it will place consistently in lists of films considered the best of all time. February * February 4 – Soviet leader Joseph Stalin gives a speech calling for rapid industrialization, arguing that only strong indus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rodrigues Bulbul
The Rodrigues bulbul (''Hypsipetes cowlesi'') is an extinct bird which was endemic to the island of Rodrigues, the easternmost of the Mascarene Islands group of the western Indian Ocean. It is known only from subfossil remains collected in 1974. References Hypsipetes Extinct birds of Indian Ocean islands Fauna of Rodrigues † A dagger, obelisk, or obelus is a typographical mark that usually indicates a footnote if an asterisk has already been used. The symbol is also used to indicate death (of people) or extinction (of species or languages). It is one of the mo ... Birds described in 2015 {{Pycnonotidae-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Julian P
Julian may refer to: People * Julian (emperor) (331–363), Roman emperor from 361 to 363 * Julian, of the Roman gens Julia, with imperial dynasty offshoots * Saint Julian (other), several Christian saints * Julian (given name), people with the given name Julian * Julian (surname), people with the surname Julian * Julian (singer), Russian pop singer Places * Julian, California, a census-designated place in San Diego County * Julian, Kansas, an unincorporated community in Stanton County * Julian, Nebraska, a village in Nemaha County * Julian, North Carolina, a census-designated place in Guilford County * Julian, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Centre County * Julian, West Virginia, an unincorporated community in Boone County Other uses * ''Julian'' (album), a 1976 album by Pepper Adams * ''Julian'' (novel), a 1964 novel by Gore Vidal about the emperor * ''Julian'' (play), an 1823 play by Mary Russell Mitford * Julian (g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pat Hall
Beryl Patricia Hall, née Woodhouse (13 June 1917 – 26 August 2010) was a British ornithologist, associated with the Natural History Museum. She is best known for her work on African birds. She also wrote a book of whimsical poems with Derek Goodwin called the ''Bird Room Ballads'' (1969). Life Pat grew up in Epsom, Surrey, born in an upper-middle-class family. Her ambition was to study mathematics at Cambridge but she failed to pursue it due to opposition from her parents. Forced to spend several years at home, she took to watching birds and then decided to sign up for the Women's Legion in 1939. Her work involved teaching ambulance driving and precautions during Air Raids. She got engaged to John Hall, a lieutenant in the army who was posted in the Middle East. She was initially posted to South Africa and she transferred to Egypt in March 1941 allowing her to marry John. After the war she returned to the UK and in 1947, following a failed marriage, she took up a position as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Colin James Oliver Harrison
Colin James Oliver Harrison (18 August 1926 – 17 November 2003) was an English ornithologist. Harrison was born in London. He got a scholarship to grammar school, and then worked as a librarian and a teacher. He had been interested in birds since childhood, and joined an expedition to study autumn migration in Norway. He became a professional ornithologist at the age of 34 and became responsible for the care of the national collection of birds' nests and eggs in the Bird Room at the Natural History Museum at Tring, Hertfordshire. In 1966 he led the fourth of the series of Harold Hall Australian ornithological collecting expeditions. Harrison later became interested in biogeography and the museum's avian paleontological collection, on which he published a number of articles with Cyril Walker. He studied and published on different aspects of bird behaviour, on plumage patterns, and on the bone structure of modern and fossil birds. He identified ''Eostrix ''Eostrix'' is a g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saddle-backed Mauritius Giant Tortoise
The saddle-backed Mauritius giant tortoise (''Cylindraspis inepta'') is an extinct species of giant tortoise in the family Testudinidae. It was endemic to Mauritius. The last records of this tortoise date to the early 18th century. Description One of two different giant tortoise species which were endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ... to Mauritius, this saddle-backed species seems to have specialized in browsing higher bushes and low-hanging branches of trees. Its lower, flatter sister species grazed on grass, as well as fallen leaves and fruit on forest floors. Although similarly sized, the two species differed substantially in their body shape and bone structure. This species in particular seems to have been the ancestor of all the other four species ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Réunion Kestrel
The Réunion kestrel (''Falco duboisi'') is an extinct bird of prey which belongs to the falcon family. It was endemic to the Mascarene island of Réunion and was part of the Western Indian Ocean radiation of kestrels. Description Known from subfossil bones and the writings of Dubois published in 1674, this bird was larger than its relative ''F. punctatus'' on Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ..., being about the size of a common kestrel, or around 35 cm from head to tail, with males being noticeably smaller than females. This trait, while present in most birds of prey, is most pronounced in the larger, bird-eating species and reduces between-sex competition by niche differentiation. It can be assumed that the bird was of the same generally browni ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
