Richard D. Alexander (November 18, 1929 – August 20, 2018) was an American

zoologist Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoology is one ...

who was a professor at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

and curator at the university's museum of

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 ...

of in

Ann Arbor Ann Arbor is a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the List of municipalities in Michigan, fifth-most populous cit ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. His scientific pursuits integrated the fields of

systematics Systematics is the study of the diversification of living forms, both past and present, and the relationships among living things through time. Relationships are visualized as evolutionary trees (synonyms: phylogenetic trees, phylogenies). Phy ...

ecology Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their Natural environment, environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community (ecology), community, ecosystem, and biosphere lev ...

evolution Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...

natural history Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

and behavior. The salient organisms in his research are wide-ranging, from the

orthoptera Orthoptera () is an order of insects that comprises the grasshoppers, locusts, and crickets, including closely related insects, such as the bush crickets or katydids and wētā. The order is subdivided into two suborders: Caelifera – gras ...

ns (grasshoppers, katydids and crickets) and

Cicadidae Cicadidae, the true cicadas,World Auchenorrhyncha Database: fam ...

(cicadas) to

vertebrates Vertebrates () are animals with a vertebral column (backbone or spine), and a cranium, or skull. The vertebral column surrounds and protects the spinal cord, while the cranium protects the brain. The vertebrates make up the subphylum Vertebra ...

: dogs, horses, and primates, including humans.

Biography

Alexander obtained an associate of arts degree from Blackburn College (

Carlinville Carlinville is a city in and the county seat of Macoupin County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 5,710. It is the home of Blackburn College (Illinois), Blackburn College, a small col ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

) in 1948, a Bachelor of Science in education (biology) and a PhD from

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

in 1956. He joined the University of Michigan faculty in 1957. He was the Donald Ward Tinkle Professor of Evolutionary Biology from 1984 to 1989 and was named the Theodore H. Hubbell Distinguished University Professor of Evolutionary Biology in 1989. He served as director of the Museum of Zoology from 1993 to 1998. For over 40 years, Alexander taught two graduate courses in alternate fall semesters:

evolutionary ecology Evolutionary ecology lies at the intersection of ecology and evolutionary biology. It approaches the study of ecology in a way that explicitly considers the evolutionary histories of species and the interactions between them. Conversely, it can ...

and evolution and behavior; during these semesters he dedicated all his time to prepare his lecture materials — fresh and up-to-date every year — which included many a time novel, provocative ideas from his own students and university colleagues; among which Prof. Donald W. Tinkle, curator of herpetology at the UMMZ and evolutionary biologist, was very prominent until his death in 1980. His course lectures were perhaps the most popular in the schools of natural sciences and natural resources at the university and were often attended by other faculty members and visiting students including many from the social sciences (anthropology, geography, sociology, psychology). In 1974 he created a detailed model for a

eusocial Eusociality ( Greek 'good' and social) is the highest level of organization of sociality. It is defined by the following characteristics: cooperative brood care (including care of offspring from other individuals), overlapping generations wit ...

vertebrate, having no idea that a mammal with these characteristics actually existed. It turned out that his hypothetical eusocial rodent was a "perfect description" of the

naked mole-rat The naked mole-rat (''Heterocephalus glaber''), also known as the sand puppy, is a burrowing rodent native to the Horn of Africa and parts of Kenya, notably in Somali regions. It is closely related to the blesmols and is the only species in th ...

(''Heterocephalus glaber'').

Publications

Alexander's publications related to the evolution of behaviour and its bearing on human nature. After his retirement in 2000, he devoted most of his time to his horse farm, where he bred, reined, trained and rode them.

On humans

Books

Darwinism and Human Affairs.
Seattle: U. Washington Press. , 1979.
The Biology of Moral Systems.
New York: Aldine De Gruyter. , 1987
Natural Selection and Social Behavior. Recent Research and New Theory.
New York: Chiron Press. with D. W. Tinkle (eds.). 1981

Articles

* The search for an evolutionary philosophy of man. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria, Melbourne 84: 99–120. 1971 * The evolution of social behaviour. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics. 5:325-383. 1974 * Group selection, altruism, and the levels of organization of life. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 9: 449–474. With G. Borgia. 1978 * Epigenetic rules and Darwinian algorithms: The adaptive study of learning and development. Ethology and Sociobiology 11:241-303. 1990 * How Did Humans Evolve? Reflections on the Uniquely Unique Species. University of Michigan Museum of Zoology Special Publication 1:1-38. 1990 * Biological considerations in the analysis of morality. In: M. H. and D. V. Nitecki (eds.). Evolutionary Ethics. State University of New York Press, pp. 162–196. 1993

Video

Dick Alexander speaking
at

Dan Otte Daniel Otte (born March 14, 1939, South Africa) is a South African-American ecologist, entomologist, world expert on Cricket (insect), crickets and grasshoppers and prominent scientific illustrator. He has made significant contributions to evolu ...

symposium

On horses

* Teaching Yourself to Train Your Horse. Woodlane Farm Books. , 2001

On Insects

*Aggressiveness, territoriality, and sexual behavior in field crickets (Orthoptera - Gryllidae), Behaviour (17) pp. 130–223. 1961

Children's reading

* The Red Fox and Johnny Valentine's Blue-Speckled Hound. Woodlane Farm Books. , 2004 * Thumping on Trees. Woodlane Farm Books.

Honors and awards

Newcomb Cleveland Prize The Newcomb Cleveland Prize of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is annually awarded to author(s) of outstanding scientific paper published in the Research Articles or Reports sections of ''Science Science is a ...

from the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...

(1961) *

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 ...

from 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 ...

(1971) * Elected to the National Academy of Sciences (1974) * Amoco Foundation Good Teaching Award (1977) * Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award from

The University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Michigan is one of th ...

(1981) * Russell Lectureship (1988) * The University of Michigan LSA Senior Distinguished Lecturer (1994) * Distinguished Animal Behaviorist, awarded by the Animal Behavior Society (2003)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Richard D. 1929 births 2018 deaths American zoologists American evolutionary biologists Human evolution theorists Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences University of Michigan faculty Ohio State University College of Education and Human Ecology alumni 21st-century American biologists 20th-century American biologists 21st-century American zoologists Biologists from Michigan Biologists from Illinois