Derek William Yalden (4 November 1940 – 5 February 2013) was an eminent British zoologist and academic. He was an honorary header at the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

. After obtaining a 1st Class B.Sc.

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

in 1962, he completed his PhD on

carpal bone The carpal bones are the eight small bones that make up the wrist (carpus) that connects the hand to the forearm. The terms "carpus" and "carpal" are derived from the Latin carpus and the Greek καρπός (karpós), meaning "wrist". In hu ...

s in mammals at

Royal Holloway College Royal Holloway, University of London (RH), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public research university and a member institution of the federal University of London. It has six schools, 21 academic departmen ...

, under P. M. Butler, in 1965. He then worked as an Assistant Lecturer, and eventually Senior Lecturer, at the University of Manchester, School of Biological Sciences, teaching vertebrate zoology. He retired from there in 2005, after 40 years' service. He was president of

The Mammal Society The Mammal Society is a British charity devoted to the research and conservation of British mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing ...

from 1997 until his death, and edited their journal, ''Mammal Review'' from 1980–2002. He authored or co-authored over 200 scientific publications. '' Leptopelis yaldeni'', (grassland forest tree frog, named by M. Largen in 1977), and '' Desmomys yaldeni'' (Yalden's desmomys, a rodent named by L. Lavrenchenko in 2003) are named in his honour. Both are

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 ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

Derek Yalden Fund

An expert in the mammals of the UK and of Ethiopia, Yalden also took hundreds of students on field courses. To honour his memory, a fund has been set up to provide undergraduates from limited income families with financial support to help fund their field trips whilst studying at Manchester.

Research

Yalden listed his research interests as: *Cataloguing the mammal fauna of

, with contributions to the ''Handbook of the Mammals of Africa'' *Conservation ecology of the

Peak District The Peak District is an Highland, upland area in central-northern England, at the southern end of the Pennines. Mostly in Derbyshire, it extends into Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire. It is subdivi ...

, including: **Investigations of moorland erosion and restoration **Work on the ecology of golden plovers ** Common sandpipers **

Mountain hare The mountain hare (''Lepus timidus''), also known as blue hare, tundra hare, variable hare, white hare, snow hare, alpine hare, and Irish hare, is a species of Palearctic hare that is largely adapted to polar and mountainous habitats. Evolution ...

s ** Red-necked wallabies. *History of Mammals and Birds in Britain **A project to compile a database of archaeological records of birds in Britain, funded by The

Leverhulme Trust The Leverhulme Trust () is a large national grant-making organisation in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1925 under the will of the 1st Viscount Leverhulme (1851–1925), with the instruction that its resources should be used to cover ...

*Excavation (1966–90) of Foxhole Cave, in the Peak District, in conjunction with the Peakland Archaeological Society

Publications

Books

*''Which Bat is it?'' by R. E. Stebbings, D. W. Yalden and J. S. Herman; 3rd ed. London: Mammal Society, c2007 * * * * * * * * *

Journal articles (selected)

* Corbet, G.B. and D.W. Yalden. 1972. Recent records of mammals (other than bats) from Ethiopia. ''Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History), Zoology'' 22: 213-252. * "Bog Bilberry ''Vaccinium uliginosum'' in the Peak District". ''Sorby Record''; 40: 28-29 (2001) * "The older history of the White-tailed Eagle in Britain". ''British Birds''; 100: 471–480. (2007) * Pearce-Higgins JW, Finney SK, Yalden DW, Langston RHW (2007) "Testing the effects of recreational disturbance on two upland breeding waders". ''Ibis''; 148 (Suppl 1): 45–55. (2007)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yalden, Derek British mammalogists British ornithologists Alumni of University College London Academics of the University of Manchester 1940 births 2013 deaths People from Surrey