Benjamin Arthur Bensley (1875–1934) was a Canadian mammologist. He was born in Hamilton, Ontario to Robert Daniel and Caroline Vandeleur Bensley. He was best known for his work on

marsupial Marsupials are any members of the mammalian infraclass Marsupialia. All extant marsupials are endemic to Australasia, Wallacea and the Americas. A distinctive characteristic common to most of these species is that the young are carried in a ...

s and a standard text ''Practical Anatomy of the Rabbit''. Bensley headed the department of biology at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institu ...

after graduating from the same institution and completing his doctorate at the

University of Columbia Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhattan ...

. He spent about two years in London, from 1901, studying marsupials at the British Museum. In 1903 he returned to the University of Toronto as a lecturer and in 1914 was made head of the Biology Department. He was the first director of the

Royal Ontario Museum of Zoology The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) is a museum of art, world culture and natural history in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is one of the largest museums in North America and the largest in Canada. It attracts more than one million visitors every year ...

, appointed on its founding in October 1913. He died on January 20, 1934, at his home in Toronto. He was survived by his wife, Ruth Horton, and his son, Dr. Edward Bensley.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bensley, Benjamin Arthur 1875 births 1934 deaths Canadian mammalogists