Hildegarde Howard
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Hildegarde Howard (April 3, 1901 – February 28, 1998) was an American pioneer in
paleornithology Paleornithology, also known as avian paleontology, is the scientific study of bird evolution and fossil birds. It is a hybrid of ornithology and paleontology. Paleornithology began with the discovery of ''Archaeopteryx''. The reptilian relationsh ...
. She was mentored by the famous ornithologist, Joseph Grinnell, at the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology (MVZ) and in avian paleontology.Joyce Harvey & Marilyn Ogilvie (2000), ''The Biographical Dictionary of Women in Science'', Volume 1, pp.621 et seq She was well known for her discoveries in the
La Brea Tar Pits La Brea Tar Pits comprise an active Paleontological site, paleontological research site in urban Los Angeles. Hancock Park was formed around a group of tar pits where natural Bitumen, asphalt (also called asphaltum, bitumen, or pitch; ''brea'' ...
, among them the
Rancho La Brea Rancho La Brea was a Mexican land grant in present-day Los Angeles County, California, given in 1828 to Antonio Jose Rocha and Nemisio Dominguez by José Antonio Carrillo, the alcalde of Los Angeles. Rancho La Brea consisted of one square l ...
eagles. She discovered and described Pleistocene flightless waterfowl at the prehistoric
Ballona wetlands Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve (pronunciation: "Bah-yo-nuh" or "Buy-yo-nah" ) is a protected area that once served as the natural estuary for neighboring Ballona Creek. The site is located in Los Angeles County, California, just south o ...
of coastal
Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles and sometimes abbreviated as LA County, is the most populous county in the United States, with 9,663,345 residents estimated in 2023. Its population is greater than that of 40 individua ...
at
Playa del Rey Playa del Rey (Spanish for "Beach of the King") is a seaside neighborhood on the westside of Los Angeles in the Santa Monica Bay region of Los Angeles County, California. It has a ZIP Code of 90293 and area codes of 310 and 424. As of 2018, ...
. In 1953, Howard became the third woman to be awarded the
Brewster Medal The William Brewster Memorial Award, usually referred to as the Brewster Medal, is awarded by the American Ornithologists' Union and is named for ornithologist William Brewster. It is given to an author, or coauthors who are not previous recipients ...
. She was the first woman president of the
Southern California Academy of Sciences Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, M ...
. Hildegarde wrote 150 papers throughout her career.


Biography

Howard was born in Washington, D.C., and moved with her parents to Los Angeles in 1906; her father was a scriptwriter and her mother a musician and composer.Frank Perry
"Hildegarde Howard"
, Monterey Bay Paleontological Society (last visited April 13, 2013).
In 1920 Howard commenced her studies at the
Southern Branch of the University of California The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the Cal ...
(later renamed UCLA). Her first biology teacher, Pirie Davidson, inspired her to change her concentration from journalism to biology; Davidson helped her get a job working for the paleontologist Chester Stock. She completed her bachelor's degree at
U.C. Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkeley ...
in 1924, where she took courses in
paleontology Paleontology, also spelled as palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classify organisms, measure ge ...
. That same year, Howard joined the scientific staff of the
Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History LOS, or Los, or LoS may refer to: Science and technology * Length of stay, the duration of a single episode of hospitalisation * Level of service, a measure used by traffic engineers * Level of significance, a measure of statistical significanc ...
part-time; her work there on the extinct turkey ''Parapavo californicus'' was credited towards her master's degree, which was received in 1926 at Berkeley. She would earn her Ph.D. at the same university in 1928 with a dissertation on the fossil birds of the
Emeryville Shellmound The Emeryville Shellmound, in Emeryville, California, is a sacred burial site of the Ohlone people, a once-massive archaeological shell midden deposit (dark, highly organic soil, temple and burial ground containing a high concentration of hu ...
. In 1929 Howard returned to the
Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History LOS, or Los, or LoS may refer to: Science and technology * Length of stay, the duration of a single episode of hospitalisation * Level of service, a measure used by traffic engineers * Level of significance, a measure of statistical significanc ...
and she held a permanent position there as a curator. However, she was not officially given the title of a curator until 1938. Her initial title was Junior clerk and Howard's job was researching fossils from the Rancho La Brea as well as curating them. Named chief curator of science in 1951, she retired in 1961, but continued to conduct research and to publish on avian evolution. While at the museum and in retirement, Howard described three families, 13 genera, 57 species, and 2 subspecies. In 1977 the Los Angeles Museum of History decided to honour Hildegarde Howard in the Cenozoic life Hall. Howard married Henry Anson Wylde in 1930. Wylde, who would become chief of exhibits at the
Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History LOS, or Los, or LoS may refer to: Science and technology * Length of stay, the duration of a single episode of hospitalisation * Level of service, a measure used by traffic engineers * Level of significance, a measure of statistical significanc ...
, died in 1984. Hildegarde Howard died on 28 February 1998 at her home in California, not long before her 97th birthday.


Significant works

Howard published some 150 scientific papers over the course of her career. Some of Howard's most transformative work was done at the La Brea Tar Pits. The La Brea tar Pits were filled with vast quantities of bird bones, which would provide extensive research potential for Howard throughout her life. Howard's first introduction to the field was sorting bones from La Brea at the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, where she would also meet her future husband Henry Anson Wylde.


New avian fossil

In Howard's New Avian Fossil research she found an extinct family of seabirds. Howard was allowed to research a coracoid bone (between the shoulder blade and sternum) discovered for a species of bird not yet known by the public record. She concluded through previous evidence and modern avians that the bird was a previously unknown species of water bird by the shape of the shoulder and chest bone. She named this family of
pelecaniformes The Pelecaniformes are an order of medium-sized and large waterbirds found worldwide. As traditionally (but erroneously) defined, they encompass all birds that have feet with all four toes webbed. Hence, they were formerly also known by such ...
seabirds
plotopteridae Plotopteridae is an extinct family of flightless seabirds with uncertain placement, generally considered as member of order Suliformes. They exhibited remarkable convergent evolution with the penguins, particularly with the now extinct giant peng ...
.


Review of extinct avian genus

Howard conducted an experiment in which she took wasps from their home ecosystem and brought them to a greenhouse to see how they would take to the conditions of isolation and whether or not they would nest in that environment. After corrections to the methodology of the experiment, she was able to collect 41 nests to study the structure of their nesting.


The avifauna of

Emeryville Shellmound The Emeryville Shellmound, in Emeryville, California, is a sacred burial site of the Ohlone people, a once-massive archaeological shell midden deposit (dark, highly organic soil, temple and burial ground containing a high concentration of hu ...

Howard's 1929 dissertation, "The Avifauna of Emeryville Shellmound" was particularly influential at the time. The dissertation she wrote thoroughly labelled ornithological fossil specimens, and paired the terms with visual representations. This allowed common terminology to be taught and widely popularized her work in the field. Her diagrams were eventually phased out after ''Nomina Anatomica Avium'' was published in 1997. The Avifauna of Emeryville Shellmound was important because it set the grounds of vocabulary for avian paleontology. Howard detailed, named and labelled a baseline for the skeletal makeup of all birds. This work solidified her significance in the world of paleontology and continues to stay a point of agreement for paleontologists of all levels. The names used are still widely referenced and give a strong baseline when labelling unknown species.


A census of the Pleistocene birds

Howard compared two studies regarding the Pleistocene animals of the Rancho La Brea region. One of them was a census conducted by Dr. Chester Stock regarding mammals of the region, while the other was a census of the birds. This entry sought the common factors, if any, between the two groups. She found that there was a limitation on the age of the animals from the Rancho La Brea exhibit. This effect was only manifested in the specimens that came from the early to the middle part of the late Pleistocene era. * * Howard described the first "toothed" bird from North America and assigned the name "Osteodontornis" to it. * * *


Examination of abnormal wing of a pintail duck

In this paper, Howard examined the possibility of regeneration after a man claimed that a
Northern pintail The pintail or northern pintail (''Anas acuta'') is a duck species with wide geographic Range (biology), distribution that breeds in the northern areas of Europe and across the Palearctic and North America. It is bird migration, migratory an ...
duck who had its wing shot off was able to grow it back. When the specimen was submitted to the Los Angeles Museum, it was noted that there was a new portion joined to the old portion. The entry detailed this evidence; however, Howard did not conclude that this was the regeneration of the bones, since it had never been recorded before. She kept the possibility open because of the close relation between reptiles and birds, since reptiles have the ability to regenerate.


New species of owl

At the Los Angeles Museum, a collection called Rancho La Brea contains the bones of the Horned Owl which she had noted to be abnormal. The size of the bones could have easily been mistaken for the bones of a variety of North American as well as South American owls. She finds that the fossils resemble closest to ''Strix'' even though it is larger than either species that could be found in North America of the genus. She goes into a full-depth investigation along with evidence filled with measurements and comparisons and finally comes to the conclusion that the bones found in the exhibit were of a new species, which is now named the ''Strix Brea''. She published her findings in ''The Condor'' in 1932, naming the entry 'A New Species of Owl from the Pleistocene of Rancho La Brea, California'.


Contribution to new road-runner species

Located in the
Conkling Cavern Conkling Cavern is a paleontological and archaeological site located in Doña Ana County, New Mexico, United States. It is part of the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument. It was excavated in the late 1920s under the direction of Ches ...
in
Doña Ana County, New Mexico Doña Ana County () is a county located in the southern part of the New Mexico, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 219,561, which makes it the second-most populated county in New Mexico. Its county seat is Las Cruce ...
, the remains of extinct mammals were found and were initially hypothesized to be from the ''
Geococcyx californianus The greater roadrunner (''Geococcyx californianus'') is a long-legged bird in the cuckoo family, Cuculidae, from the Aridoamerica region in the Southwestern United States and Mexico. The scientific name means "Californian earth-cuckoo". Along with ...
''. After comparing the new specimen with the bones of other ''Geococcyx californius'' from
New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...
,
Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...
and
Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
, Howard observed that none of them are similar in size to the specimen. A year earlier, fossils were discovered two miles away in another cave, whose size was similar to the specimen and exemplified further the dissimilarity with the great roadrunner. Hence, Howard proposed that this specimen be classified as a new species called the ''Geococcyx conklingi.''''.''


Awards

* 1953
Brewster Medal The William Brewster Memorial Award, usually referred to as the Brewster Medal, is awarded by the American Ornithologists' Union and is named for ornithologist William Brewster. It is given to an author, or coauthors who are not previous recipients ...
(third woman to be awarded the Brewster Medal) * 1962
Guggenheim Fellow Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon individuals who have demonstrated d ...
, Earth Science * Elected President,
Southern California Academy of Sciences Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, M ...
(first woman president) * 1977 - Honored by having Hildegarde Howard Cenozoic Hall, Southern California Academy of Sciences, named after her * 1963 - Honorary Member, Cooper Ornithological Society"Honorary Members"
, Cooper Ornithological Society (last visited April 13, 2013).


References


Further research

*
Joy Harvey Joy Dorothy Harvey (born 1934) is an American historian of science. Life Harvey gained a PhD from Harvard University in 1983. She has been an associate editor of the Darwin Correspondence Project, and written a biography of Clémence Royer, D ...
&
Marilyn Ogilvie Marilyn Bailey Ogilvie (born March 22, 1936) is an American historian of science known especially for her work on the history of women in science. She taught at Oklahoma Baptist University before becoming curator of the History of Science Collec ...
(2000), ''The Biographical Dictionary of Women in Science'', Volume 1, pp. 621 et seq * Campbell, Kenneth E. Jr., editor. 1980. "Papers in Avian Paleontology Honoring Hildegarde Howard", ''Contributions in Science: Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County'', No. 330 (September 15, 1970), 296 p. (Includes biographical sketches and a bibliography of her works.) * * ; Archives * Hildegarde Howard Papers, archives,
George C. Page Museum La Brea Tar Pits comprise an active paleontological research site in urban Los Angeles. Hancock Park was formed around a group of tar pits where natural asphalt (also called asphaltum, bitumen, or pitch; ''brea'' in Spanish) has seeped up from ...
, Hancock Park, California * Hildegarde Howard Papers, archives,
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the laws, elements and phenomena of the physical world, including life. Although humans are par ...
, Los Angeles, California * Chester Stock Papers,
George C. Page Museum La Brea Tar Pits comprise an active paleontological research site in urban Los Angeles. Hancock Park was formed around a group of tar pits where natural asphalt (also called asphaltum, bitumen, or pitch; ''brea'' in Spanish) has seeped up from ...
, Hancock Park, Museum


External links


Hildegarde Howard Society
Los Angeles County Natural History Museum
Science of Motherhood
(photo) {{DEFAULTSORT:Howard, Hildegarde 1901 births 1998 deaths American ornithologists American women ornithologists American women biologists American paleontologists University of California, Los Angeles alumni University of California, Berkeley alumni Scientists from Los Angeles 20th-century American zoologists American women paleontologists 20th-century American women scientists