Thora Patricia Whitehead (27 January 1936 – 30 September 2021) was an Australian scientific collector and

malacologist Malacology, from Ancient Greek μαλακός (''malakós''), meaning "soft", and λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is the branch of invertebrate zoology that deals with the study of the Mollusca (molluscs or mollusks), the second-largest ...

. She collected more than 200,000 shell specimens which are now held in the

Queensland Museum The Queensland Museum Kurilpa is the state museum of Queensland, funded by the government, and dedicated to natural history, cultural heritage, science and human achievement. The museum currently operates from its headquarters and general museu ...

Life and work

With Kevin Lamprell, Whitehead co-wrote the two-volume ''Bivalves of Australia.'' She also edited Lamprell's book, ''Spondylus: Spiny oyster shells of the world'', in 1986. Whitehead spent over 50 years collecting shells, particularly along the coast of Queensland. She found specimens in mangrove forests and on beaches, rocky outcrops and coral reefs. In the process of photographing the specimens prior to acquisition of Whitehead's extensive shell collection by the Queensland Museum, its curator John Healy discovered a new species. He named it ''Amoria thorae'' in her honour.

Personal life

Born in Chile in 1936, Whitehead died in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

in 2021 aged 85. She was survived by John, her husband of 56 years, and three children.

Legacy

A number of species were named in her honour, including ''Amoria thorae, Callocardia thorae, Conus whiteheadae, Morula whiteheadae, Nassarius whiteheadae'' and ''Terebra whiteheadae.''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitehead, Thora 1936 births 2021 deaths Australian malacologists 20th-century Australian women scientists