Raymond Coppinger (8 February 1937 – August 14, 2017) was a professor of

cognitive science Cognitive science is the interdisciplinary, scientific study of the mind and its processes. It examines the nature, the tasks, and the functions of cognition (in a broad sense). Mental faculties of concern to cognitive scientists include percep ...

and biology at

Hampshire College Hampshire College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. It was opened in 1970 as an experiment in alternative education, in association with four other colleges ...

. He was an expert in dog behavior and the

origin of the domestic dog The domestication of the dog was the process which led to the domestic dog. This included the dog's genetic divergence from the wolf, its domestication, and the emergence of the first dogs. Genetic studies suggest that all ancient and modern dogs ...

Education

He majored in literature and philosophy at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

. He received his Ph.D. at the

University of Massachusetts The University of Massachusetts is the Public university, public university system of the Massachusetts, Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The university system includes six campuses (Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, University of Massachusetts Lowell ...

in biology. His thesis was on "the effect of experience and novelty on avian feeding behavior."

Career

He was one of the first faculty members at Hampshire College when it was founded in 1969. He published more than 60 scientific articles, and appeared in many documentaries including for the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, the

Canadian Broadcasting Company The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is the Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a Crown corporation that serves as the national public broadcaster, with its English-language and F ...

, and

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

. His wife Lorna Coppinger was a frequent collaborator on research and writing. In their book "What Is a Dog?," they argue that vast majority of street dogs are not strays or lost pets, but rather well-adapted scavengers, similar to the dogs that first emerged thousands of years ago.

Livestock Dog Project

The Coppingers compiled data for ten years from over 1,400

Livestock Guardian Dogs A livestock guardian dog (LGD) is a dog type bred for the purpose of protecting livestock from predators. Livestock guardian dogs stay with the group of animals they protect as a full-time member of the flock or herd. Their ability to guard th ...

(LGDs) to research their use on American ranches to combat coyotes. Their work is still the single largest, long term study of LGDs. He and his wife helped develop and popularize the

Anatolian Shepherd The Kangal Shepherd Dog () is a traditional Turkish breed of large livestock guardian dog. The breed name derives from that of the town and district of Kangal in Sivas Province, the easternmost province of the Central Anatolia Region in cent ...

breed in the United States.

Foxes

His research on foxes has challenged views about

domestication syndrome Domestication syndrome refers to two sets of phenotypic traits that are common to either domesticated plants or domesticated animals. Domesticated animals tend to be smaller and less aggressive than their wild counterparts; they may also have f ...

with

fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

es, suggesting that the traits associated with the syndrome occurred in the fox population prior to their domestication.

Death

Coppinger died at the age of 80, from cancer. He is survived by his wife, Lorna.

Books

* * * * *

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coppinger, Raymond 1937 births 2017 deaths Animal cognition writers Boston University College of Arts and Sciences alumni Dog writers Domesticated animal genetics Domestication of particular species Hampshire College faculty University of Massachusetts Amherst alumni