Jonathan B. Losos (born December 7, 1961, in

St. Louis County, Missouri St. Louis County is located in eastern Missouri. It is bounded by the City of St. Louis and the Mississippi River to the east, the Missouri River to the north, and the Meramec River to the south. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1, ...

) is an American evolutionary biologist,

herpetologist Herpetology (from Ancient Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is a branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, salamanders, and caecilians (Gymnophiona)) and reptiles (in ...

and ailurologist.

Life

Losos studied biology at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, from which he received a bachelor's degree in 1984. Later on, in 1989, he received a PhD in

Zoology Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...

from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

(''Ecomorphological Adaptation in the Genus''

Anolis ''Anolis'' is a genus of anoles (), iguanian lizards in the family Dactyloidae, native to the Americas. With more than 425 species, it represents the world's most species-rich amniote tetrapod genus, although many of these have been proposed to b ...

). Starting in 1987, he worked as a

teaching assistant A teaching assistant (TA) or education assistant (EA) is an individual who assists a professor or teacher with instructional responsibilities. TAs include ''graduate teaching assistants'' (GTAs), who are graduate students; ''undergraduate teach ...

in Berkeley. After receiving his PhD, he moved to the

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Davis, California, United States. It is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University ...

in 1990 to become one of the inaugural

postdoctoral fellows A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). Postdocs most commonly, but not always, have a temporary academ ...

at the Center for Population Biology. Losos then, from 1992 on, was

assistant professor Assistant professor is an academic rank just below the rank of an associate professor used in universities or colleges, mainly in the United States, Canada, Japan, and South Korea. Overview This position is generally taken after earning a doct ...

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) is a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1853 by a group of civic leaders and named for George Washington, the university spans 355 acres across its Danforth ...

, and then was promoted to the rank of

associate professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a position ...

in 1997 and

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

in 2001. His work focuses on a wide range of topics, but he is best known for his studies of

convergent evolution Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time. Convergent evolution creates analogous structures that have similar form or function but were not present in the last comm ...

and

adaptive radiation In evolutionary biology, adaptive radiation is a process in which organisms diversify rapidly from an ancestral species into a multitude of new forms, particularly when a change in the environment makes new resources available, alters biotic int ...

, and for experimental studies of evolution in nature. Most of his empirical work has involved the evolutionary radiation of lizards in the genus ''

'' which occur in Central and South America and on islands in the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

. From 2000 to 2003 and 2004–2005, Losos was director of

Tyson Research Center Tyson Research Center is a environmental field station owned and operated by Washington University in St. Louis, situated along a broad curve of the Meramec River, across from Castlewood State Park. Washington University obtained Tyson after it ...

. In 2006, Losos left Washington University to become the ''Monique and Philip Lehner Professor for the Study of Latin America'' at

and ''Professor'' in the Department of ''Organismic and Evolutionary Biology'', as well as

Curator A curator (from , meaning 'to take care') is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the particular ins ...

Herpetology Herpetology (from Ancient Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is a branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, salamanders, and caecilians (Gymnophiona)) and reptiles (in ...

of the

Museum of Comparative Zoology The Museum of Comparative Zoology (formally the Agassiz Museum of Comparative Zoology and often abbreviated to MCZ) is a zoology museum located on the grounds of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is one of three natural-history r ...

. Losos then returned to Washington University in St. Louis College of Arts and Sciences in 2018 to become the William H. Danforth Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Biology, as well as the founding director of the Living Earth Collaborative, a biodiversity partnership between Washington University in St. Louis, the

Missouri Botanical Garden The Missouri Botanical Garden is a botanical garden located at 4344 Shaw Boulevard in St. Louis, Missouri. It is also known informally as Shaw's Garden for founder and philanthropy, philanthropist Henry Shaw (philanthropist), Henry Shaw. I ...

and the

Saint Louis Zoo The Saint Louis Zoo, officially known as the Saint Louis Zoological Park, is a zoo in Forest Park in St. Louis, Missouri. It is recognized as a leading zoo in animal management, research, conservation, and education. The zoo is accredited by th ...

Honors and awards

Losos has received a number of awards, including th
Dobzhansky Prize
in 1991, th
David Starr Jordan Prize
in 1998, th

in 2009, the

Daniel Giraud Elliot Medal The Daniel Giraud Elliot Medal is awarded by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences "for meritorious work in zoology or paleontology study published in a three to five year period." Named after Daniel Giraud Elliot, it was first awarded in 1917. L ...

in 2012, th
Sewall Wright Award
in 2019, and th
Friend of Darwin Award
in 2024. Losos is a

Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellowship of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (FAAAS) is an honor accorded by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) to distinguished persons who are members of the Association. Fellows are elected ...

(2005) and the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

(2012) and is a member of the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

(2018) and th
American Philosophical Society
(2024). In 2016, he received the ''Distinguished Herpetologist'' award of Th
Herpetologists' League

Works

As author

* * *

As editor

* * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Losos, Jonathan Living people 1961 births 21st-century American biologists Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Harvard College alumni Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences faculty Members of the American Philosophical Society Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Presidents of the American Society of Naturalists Scientists from St. Louis University of California, Berkeley alumni Washington University in St. Louis faculty