Don Ellis Wilson (born April 30, 1944, inDavis, Oklahoma) is an American zoologist. His main research field ismammalogy, especially the group ofbats which he studied in 65 countries around the world.[1]
Wilson spent his childhood and youth in Nebraska, Texas, Oregon and Washington. After finishing high school inBisbee, Arizona in 1961 he graduated toBachelor of Science from theUniversity of Arizona in 1965. Still an under-graduate in 1964, he made his first expedition to the tropics, to which he travelled many times in the subsequent decades to study the mammalian fauna.
During this period he spent the summer months working as a naturalist for theU.S. Forest Service in theSandia Mountains. His master thesis dealt with the relationships of fivePeromyscus species in the Sandia Mountains in New Mexico, hisdissertation with the small tropical insectivorous batMyotis nigricans.[2]
At the same period serving as an administrative officer, Wilson was the vice president (1990-1993) and the president (1993-1996) of The Washington Biologists' Field Club.[4][5] It was in 1991 when Wilson was in charge of a committee under then president Dick Banks when they saw the field for the Club atPlummers Island and thenearby mainland showing decrease in their biodiversity, where the Club needed more data for invertebrate taxa, to find ways to increase/recover variety and numbers of wildlife species. Wilson's committee was assigned and set to realise how they would make those data available to the biological community at large, utilizing the research grants program the Club has been supporting.[a]
Wilson published more than 270 scientific publications, including the bookMammals of New Mexico and three monographs on bats.[8][9] In 1997, the bookBats in Question – The Smithsonian Answer Book was published.
For Smithsonian Institution, Wilson published the booksAnimal,[13][c]Human,[15] forSmithsonian Handbook of Mammals[16] as well as a field guide to the North American mammal fauna which was included in theSmithsonian Book of North American Mammals[17][18][19]
Wilson won several awards, including "the Smithsonian Institution Awards" for outstanding contributions in the field of tropical biology, "the Outstanding Publication Award" from theU.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, "theGerrit S. Miller Award" from the North American Symposium on Bat Research, and "theHartley H. T. Jackson Award" of theAmerican Society of Mammalogists. In addition he received recognition of theAsociacion Mexicana de Mastozoologia for his outstanding scientific achievement[20] and he received an honorary membership of the American Society of Mammalogists.[21]
Wilson lives with his wife, whom he married in 1962 inGainesville, Virginia. The couple has two daughters (who work as tutors) and four granddaughters.
Diersing, Victor E.; Wilson, Don E., eds. (1980).Distribution and systematics of the rabbits (Sylvilagus) of West-Central Mexico. Smithsonian contributions to zoology. Smithsonian Institution Press.
Handley, Charles O. (Charles Overton); Wilson, Don E.; Gardner, Alfred L., eds. (1991).Demography and natural history of the common fruit bat, Artibeus jamaicensis,on Barro Colorado Island, Panama. Smithsonian contributions to zoology. Smithsonian Institution Press.ISBN1560981466.
Wilson, Don E.; Reeder, DeeAnn M., eds. (1996).Mammal species of the world : a taxonomic and geographic reference (2 ed.). Smithsonian Institution Press.
Wilson, Don E.; Sandoval, Abelardo, eds. (1996).Manu : the biodiversity of southeastern Peru [Manu : la biodiversidad del sureste del Perú]. Smithsonian Institution.ISBN1560987103.
Wilson, Don E.; Cole, F. Russell, eds. (2000).Common names of mammals of the world. Smithsonian Institution Press.ISBN1560983833.
Mittermeier, Russell A.; Rylands, Anthony B.; Wilson, Don E., eds. (2013).Primates. Vol. 3. Lynx.ISBN9788496553897.
Wilson, Don E.; Mittermeier, Russell A.; Martínez-Vilalta, Albert; Leslie, David; Llobet, Toni; Hoyo, Josep del; Copet, José Luis; Braulik, Gill, eds. (2014).Sea mammals. Vol. 4. Lynx.ISBN9788496553934.
Wilson, Don E.; Mittermeier, Russell A., eds. (2015).Monotremes and marsupials. Vol. 5. Lynx.ISBN9788496553996.
Wilson, Don E.; Lacher, Thomas E. Jr.; Mittermeier, Russell A., eds. (2016).Lagomorphs and rodents. Vol. 6. Lynx.ISBN9788494189234.
Wilson, Don E.; Lacher, Thomas E. Jr.; Mittermeier, Russell A., eds. (2017).Rodents. Vol. 7. Lynx.ISBN9788416728046.
Wilson, Don E.; Mittermeier, Russell A., eds. (2018).Insectivores, sloths and colugos. Vol. 8. Lynx.ISBN9788416728084.
Wilson, Don E.; Mittermeier, Russell A., eds. (2019).Bats. Vol. 9. Lynx.ISBN9788416728190.
Illustrated checklist of the mammals of the world
Burgin, Connor J.; Wilson, Don E.; Mittermeier, Russell A.; Rylands, Anthony B.; Lacher, Thomas E.; Sechrest, Wes; Llobet, Toni, eds. (2020).Monotremato to Rodentia. Illustrated checklist of the mammals of the world. Vol. 1. Lynx.ISBN9788416728343.
Burgin, Connor J.; Wilson, Don E.; Mittermeier, Russell A.; Rylands, Anthony B.; Lacher, Thomas E.; Sechrest, Wes; Llobet, Toni, eds. (2020).Eulipotyphla to Carnivora. Illustrated checklist of the mammals of the world. Vol. 2. Lynx.ISBN9788416728350.
^Wilson himself joined the sponsor list at the Washington Biologists' Field Club, for researches on theanuran community at theOccoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge (2002[6][7]), bats foraging ecology of the Potomac Basin (1993 and 1996[6]) as well as the bird census project by theAudubon Naturalist Society in the District of Columbia (1993[6]).
^2nd edition was published by the Smithsonian Institution Press[11] and the 3rd was from the Johns Hopkins University Press.[12]
^Handley, Charles O. (Charles Overton); Wilson, Don E.; Gardner, Alfred L. (1991).Demography and natural history of the common fruit bat,Artibeus jamaicensis, on Barro Colorado Island, Panama. Smithsonian contributions to zoology. Smithsonian Institution Press.ISBN1560981466.
^Wilson, Don E.; Reeder, DeeAnn M. (1993).Mammal species of the world : a taxonomic and geographic reference (2 ed.). Smithsonian Institution Press.
^Wilson, Don E.; Reeder, DeeAnn M. (2005).Mammal species of the world : a taxonomic and geographic reference (3 ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press.ISBN0801882214.
^Wilson, Don E.; Ruff, Sue; American Society of Mammalogists, eds. (1999).The Smithsonian book of North American mammals. Smithsonian Institution Press, in association with the American Society of Mammalogists.ISBN1560988452.
^Wilson, Don E.; Cole, F. Russell; Nichols, James D.; Rudran, Rasanayagam; Foster, Mercedes S., eds. (1996).Measuring and monitoring biological diversity : standard methods for mammals. Biological Diversity Handbook Series. Smithsonian Institution Press.Bibcode:1996mmbd.book...27W.ISBN1560986360,1560986379.
^"Past ASM Officers".www.mammalsociety.org. American Society of Mammalogists. RetrievedMarch 28, 2025.1986-1988 Don E. Wilson, U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service
^Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael; Wilson, D.E. (2011).The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 287.ISBN978-1-4214-0135-5. xiii + 296 pp. .
