Theodore Sherman Palmer (January 26, 1868 – July 24, 1955) 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 ...

. Palmer was born in

Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

, and studied at the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...

. He was the son of Henry Austin and Jane Olivia (Day) Palmer, and his mother was the daughter of Sherman Day, granddaughter of Yale President Jeremiah Day, and the great-granddaughter of American founding father

Roger Sherman Roger Sherman (April 19, 1721 – July 23, 1793) was an early American politician, lawyer, and a Founding Father of the United States. He is the only person to sign all four great state papers of the United States: the Continental Association, ...

, meaning that Palmer was Sherman's great-great grandson. In 1889, he joined the Division of Economic Ornithology and Mammalogy of the

United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an executive department of the United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commercial farming and livestock food production, promotes agricultural trade and producti ...

under

Clinton Hart Merriam Clinton Hart Merriam (December 5, 1855 – March 19, 1942) was an American zoologist, mammalogist, ornithologist, entomologist, ecologist, ethnographer, geographer, natural history, naturalist and physician. He was commonly known as the "father o ...

. In 1891 he was a member of the 1891 Death Valley Expedition and its leader for its first 3 months. He was Assistant Chief of the Department from 1896 to 1902, and then from 1910 to 1914. He became interested in the legislation affecting wildlife, leading a branch of the organization to deal with it from 1902 to 1910 and from 1914 to 1916. He wrote the preliminary draft of the treaty for protection of birds migrating between

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and the United States (1916), and was Chairman of the Committee which prepared the first regulations under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (1918). He retired in 1933. Palmer was a member of about 25 North American and 4 foreign scientific or conservation organizations. He was vice-president of the

American Society of Mammalogists The American Society of Mammalogists (ASM) was founded in 1919. Its primary purpose is to encourage the study of mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence ...

from 1928 to 1934, and a co-founder of the

National Audubon Society The National Audubon Society (Audubon; ) is an American non-profit environmental organization dedicated to conservation of birds and their habitats. Located in the United States and incorporated in 1905, Audubon is one of the oldest of such orga ...

. Palmer is commemorated in the scientific names of two North American lizards: ''

Uta palmeri The San Pedro side-blotched lizard (''Uta palmeri'') is a species of lizard. Its range is in Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders ...

'' and '' Elgaria coerulea palmeri''. He is also commemorated in the name of a chipmunk: '' Neotamias palmeri''.

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Lives of the Dead: Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland, Theodore Sherman PalmerTheodore Sherman Palmer Photograph CollectionFind A GraveT.S. Palmer PapersSherman/Day/Palmer Family TreeGranite Banking House of Palmer & Day, Gold Hill, Nevada Territory
1868 births 1955 deaths American zoologists American ornithologists American conservationists University of California, Berkeley alumni American botanists {{US-zoologist-stub

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