Richard Alexis Zann (27 November 1944 – 7 February 2009)Clarke, Mike (2009
"Obituary: Richard A. Zann, 27 November 1944–7 February 2009"
''Emu'', 109(2): 179-179. was an Australian

ornithologist Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...

Early life and career

Zann was born on 27 November 1944, and grew up in the town of

Casino, New South Wales Casino is a town in the Northern Rivers area of New South Wales, Australia, with a population of 10,914 people at the . It lies on the banks of the Richmond River and is situated at the junction of the Bruxner Highway and the Summerland Way. I ...

, where he developed a boyhood interest in wildlife. He graduated from the

University of New England University of New England may refer to: * University of New England (Australia), in New South Wales, with about 18,000 students * University of New England (United States), in Biddeford, Maine, with about 3,000 students See also *New England Colle ...

in 1965, with a First Class Honours degree. He completed his

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper ''Piled Higher and Deeper'' (also known as ''PhD Comics''), is a newsp ...

in 1972 at the

University of Queensland , mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work , established = , endowment = A$224.3 million , budget = A$2.1 billion , type = Public research university , chancellor = Peter Varghese , vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry , city = ...

, studying the behaviour of grassfinches under the supervision of

Jiro Kikkawa Professor was a Japanese Australian ornithologist. His early zoological studies were at Tokyo University, Japan and at Oxford University in England. He subsequently spent three years at the University of Otago in New Zealand where he began what ...

. He moved to

La Trobe University La Trobe University is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Its main campus is located in the suburb of Bundoora, Victoria, Bundoora. The university was established in 196 ...

in Melbourne, Victoria in 1972, where he remained until his death in 2009. The main focus of Zann's ornithological research was the

zebra finch The zebra finches are two species of estrildid finch in the genus ''Taeniopygia'' found in Australia and Indonesia. They are seed-eaters that travel in large flocks. The species are: Previously, both species were classified as a single specie ...

,. This work was synthesised in the 1996 book ''Zebra Finch: A Synthesis of Field and Laboratory Studies'', which has been described as his

magnum opus A masterpiece, ''magnum opus'' (), or ''chef-d’œuvre'' (; ; ) in modern use is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, ...

. Zann was also known for his studies on the

island biogeography Insular biogeography or island biogeography is a field within biogeography that examines the factors that affect the species richness and diversification of isolated natural communities. The theory was originally developed to explain the pattern o ...

of the volcanic island of

Krakatau Krakatoa (), also transcribed (), is a caldera in the Sunda Strait between the islands of Java and Sumatra in the Indonesian province of Lampung. The caldera is part of a volcanic island group ( Krakatoa archipelago) comprising four islands. ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. Zann was killed, along with his wife Eileen and daughter Eva, at

Kinglake, Victoria Kinglake is a town in Victoria, Australia, north-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Shires of Murrindindi and Nillumbik local government areas. Kinglake recorded a population of 1,662 at the 2021 census. Th ...

in the

2009 Victorian bushfires The Black Saturday bushfires were a series of Bushfires in Australia, bushfires that either ignited or were already burning across the Australian state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria on and around Saturday, 7 February 2009, and were among Au ...

Honours

In 1998, Zann was awarded the D. L. Serventy Medal by the

Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union The Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union (RAOU), now part of BirdLife Australia, was Australia's largest non-government, non-profit, bird conservation organisation. It was founded in 1901 to promote the study and bird conservation, conservati ...

for outstanding published work on birds in the

Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecolo ...

n region. In an obituary published in 2009, colleague Mike Clarke described Zann as "a reserved, humble, self-effacing man with a particularly dry sense of humour, who often made fun of his own shortcomings." In 2010, the scientific journal ''

Emu The emu () (''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is the second-tallest living bird after its ratite relative the ostrich. It is endemic to Australia where it is the largest native bird and the only extant member of the genus '' Dromaius''. The ...

'' published a special issue in Zann's memory, dedicated to the zebra finch.Buchanan, Katherine L., Simon C. Griffith, and Sarah R. Pryke (2010
"The Zebra Finch: a synthesis revised"
''Emu'' 110(3): i-ii.

References

Sources

* Zann, Richard A. (1996). ''Zebra Finch: A Synthesis of Field and Laboratory Studies''. (Illustrated by Michael Bamford). Oxford University Press. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Zann, Richard Alexis 1945 births 2009 deaths Australian ornithologists Natural disaster deaths in Australia Accidental deaths in Victoria (state) 20th-century Australian zoologists People from Casino, New South Wales