Storrs L. Olson | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1944-04-03)3 April 1944 |
| Died | 20 January 2021(2021-01-20) (aged 76) |
| Occupation | Avian paleontologist |
| Spouses | |
Storrs Lovejoy Olson (April 3, 1944 – January 20, 2021[1]) was an Americanbiologist andornithologist who spent his career at theSmithsonian Institution, retiring in 2008. One of the world's foremostavian paleontologists, he was best known for his studies offossil andsubfossil birds on islands such asAscension,St. Helena andHawaii. His early higher education took place atFlorida State University in 1966, where he obtained a B.A. inbiology, and theUniversity of Florida, where he received an M.S. in biology. Olson's doctoral studies took place atJohns Hopkins University, in what was then the School of Hygiene and Public Health. He was married to fellow paleornithologistHelen F. James.
Olson was born April 4, 1944, inChicago, Illinois. His father wasphysical oceanographer Franklyn C. W. Olson. He was named after his maternalconservationist grandfather P. S. Lovejoy.[2] Franklyn worked atOhio University's Stone Laboratory onGibraltar Island. In these lacustrine surroundings, Storrs developed an interest infish.
In 1950, Olson's family moved toTallahassee, Florida, when Franklyn took a job atFlorida State University. Young Olson's interests shifted toornithology at age 12. Olson graduated from Leon High School in 1962. In 1963, he moved toPanama to assist a friend with his research on fish. He would return to Panama in 1966 as an undergraduate, to study the immunology of vultures.
His higher education began at theUniversity of Florida under the colorfulPierce Brodkorb and spurred his interest inpaleornithology. He returned to Florida State in 1968 to complete hismaster's degree.
Olson's work in Panama attracted the attention ofAlexander Wetmore in 1967, as Wetmore was preparing amonograph on Panama bird life. Their contact at theNational Museum of Natural History (NMNH)—administered by theSmithsonian—earned Olson a summer job in theFish and Wildlife Service underRichard C. Banks the next year.[2] He then became resident manager at the Smithsonian's new Chesapeake Bay Center inEdgewater, Maryland.
The center had connections toJohns Hopkins University, and Olson was encouraged to enroll there for graduate school. He would matriculate at the School of Hygiene and Public Health in the Department of Pathobiology underBernhard Bang. With the Smithsonian's backing, Olson went toAscension Island andSaint Helena in 1970 and 1971, where he discovered theSaint Helena hoopoe and theSaint Helena crake.[3] This work was the basis of hisdissertation on the evolution ofrails. Johns Hopkins would award Olson anSc.D. in 1972.
By August 1971 he was working at the NMNH on a predoctoral fellowship. He wrote on fossil rails for a 1977 monograph bySidney Dillon Ripley. In March 1975, he was madecurator of the Division of Birds.
In 1976 he met his future wifeHelen F. James who later became another notable paleornithologist herself, focusing onLate Quaternary prehistoric birds.[4] During their pioneering research work on Hawaii, which lasted 23 years, Olson and James found and described the remains of 50 extinct bird species new to science, including thenēnē-nui, themoa-nalos, theapteribises, and theGrallistrix "stilt-owls".[5] He was also one of the authors of the description of the extinct rodentNoronhomys vespuccii.[6] In 1982, he discovered subfossil bones of the long ignoredBrace's emerald on theBahamas, which gave evidence that this hummingbird is a valid and distinct species.[7]
In November 1999, Olson wrote an open letter to theNational Geographic Society, in which he criticized Christopher P. Sloan's claims about the dinosaur-to-bird transition which referred to the fake species "Archaeoraptor".[8] In 2000, he helped to resolve the mystery ofNecropsar leguati from theWorld Museum Liverpool, which turned out to be analbinistic specimen of thegrey trembler.[9]
Olson was married to his long-time colleagueHelen F. James from 1981 until their divorce in 2006.[10]
Olson has been decorated as one of the world's foremost paleornithologists.[11] He was also the 1994 recipient of theLoye and Alden Miller Research Award.[12] He was formerly curator of birds at the United StatesNational Museum of Natural History; as of 2009[update], he held anemeritus position in the institution.[13]
Several prehistoric bird species have been named after Olson, includingNycticorax olsoni,[14]Himantopus olsoni,[15]Puffinus olsoni,[16]Primobucco olsoni,[17]Gallirallus storrsolsoni,[18] andQuercypodargus olsoni.[19] In addition, asand stargazer fish,Storrsia olsoni has itsbinomial derived from and honouring Olson, who collected thetype off Brazil.[20]
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