R. Tucker Abbott

R. Tucker Abbott
Born	(1919-09-28)September 28, 1919 William James Clench

Robert Tucker Abbott (September 28, 1919 – November 3, 1995)

). He was the author of more than 30 books on malacology, which have been translated into many languages.

Abbott was one of the most prominent conchologists of the 20th century. He brought the study of seashells to the public with his works, including most notably: American Seashells (1954), Seashells of the World (1962), The Shell (1972), and The Kingdom of the Seashell (1972). He was an active member of the American Malacological Union and Conchologists of America.

Biography

Tucker Abbott was born in

(1897–1984). In 1941, they started the journal Johnsonia, which specialized in western Atlantic molluscs. He graduated in 1942.

During World War II, Abbott was first a Navy bomber pilot, and later worked for the Medical Research Unit doing research on schistosomiasis. He documented the life cycle of the schistosome in Oncomelania, a small brown freshwater snail, which he studied in the rice fields of the Yangtze valley.

He married fellow malacologist Mary M. Sisler on February 18, 1946, and had three children, Robert Tucker, Jr., Carolyn Tucker and Cynthia Douglas.

After World War II, Abbott worked at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution (1944–1954) as Assistant Curator and Associate Curator of the Department of Mollusks. During this time, he earned his Master's and Ph.D. at George Washington University and wrote the first edition of American Seashells.

He then went to the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia (1954–1969). He was chair of the Department of Mollusks, and held the Pilsbry Chair of Malacology. During that time he went on a number of shelling expeditions to the Indo-Pacific region. He also started his own journal, "Indo-Pacific Mollusca". He also was an active editor of the journal "The Nautilus".

In 1969, Abbott accepted the DuPont Chair of Malacology at the Delaware Museum of Nature & Science. He also headed the Department of Mollusks, and was assistant director. In 1971 he became editor-in-chief of The Nautilus.

Abbott was the Founding Director of

Taxa

Species named in his honor

A number of species were named in his honor (

• Armina abbotti Thompson, Cattaneo & Wong, 1990 (synonym of Armina wattla Ev. Marcus & Er. Marcus, 1967)
• Cassis abbotti Bouchet, 1988
• Chemnitzia abbotti
  Robba, Di Geronimo, Chaimanee, Negri & Sanfilippo, 2004
• Conus regius abbotti Clench, 1942 (now a synonym for Conus sphacelatus)
• Crenella abbotti Altena, 1968 (synonym of Crenella gemma Olsson & McGinty, 1958)
• Dolomena abbotti Dekkers & Liverani, 2011
• Latirus abbotti Snyder, 2003 (synonym of Polygona abbotti (Snyder, 2003))
• Miralda abbotti
  Olsson & McGinty, 1958
• Opalia abbotti Clench & Turner, 1952
• Odostomia abbotti Olsson & McGinty, 1958
• Plesiocystiscus abbotti (De Jong & Coomans, 1988)
• Polygona abbotti (Snyder, 2003)
• Pseudocyphoma abbotti (Cate, 1973) (synonym of Cyphoma intermedium (G.B. Sowerby I, 1828))
• Tonna galea abbotti Macsotay & Campos, 2001 (synonym of Tonna galea (Linnaeus, 1758))
• Volvarina abbotti de Jong & Coomans, 1988

Species named by him

Species named by Abbot include:

• Acteon eloiseae Abbott, 1973
• Chicoreus (Phyllonotus) margaritensis
  (Abbott, 1958) - originally described as Murex margaritensis Abbott, 1958
• Chicoreus (Triplex) cosmani Abbott & Finlay, 1979
• Transennella gerrardi Abbott, 1958 (family Veneridae)
• Tudivasum zanzibaricum (Abbott, 1958) - originally described as Tudicula zanzibarica Abbott, 1958

Bibliography

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (January 2011)

• R. Tucker Abbott : Introducing Seashells, 1955
• R. Tucker Abbott: How to know American Marine Shells, 1961
• Abbott, Tucker (1962).
  ISBN 1-58238-148-8
  .
• R. Tucker Abbott :Van Nostrand's Standard Catalog of shells, 1964
• Abbott, Tucker (1968). Zim, Herbert S (ed.). Seashells of North America, A Guide to Field Identification. Illustrated by George Sandstrom. Golden Field Guides.
  ISBN 0-307-13657-4
  .
• Abbott, Tucker; Stix, Hugh; Stix, Marguerite (1972).
  ISBN 0-345-02689-6
  .
• Abbott, Tucker; Young, Mary Elizabeth (1973). American Malacologists: A national register of professional and amateur malacologists and private shell collectors and biographies of early American mollusk workers born between 1618 and 1900. Falls Church, Virginia: American Malacologists.
  ISBN 0-307-13657-4
  .
• Abbott, Tucker (1972). Kingdom of the Seashell. Crown Publishers.
• Abbott, R. Tucker, 1974, American Seashells, Second edition, Van Nostrand Rheinhold, New York,
  ISBN 0-442-20228-8
  .
• Abbott, Tucker; Morris, Percy A. (1995). A Field Guide to Shells of the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts and the West Indies. Illustrated by
  ISBN 0-395-69779-4
  .

References

1. ISBN 0-8379-0225-8
   .
2. ^ Scheu, Lynn. "Robert Tucker Abbott". Conchologists of America, inc. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007.
3. ^ Thomas, Robert McG. Jr. (November 9, 1995). "R. Tucker Abbott, an Intimate Of Mollusks' World, Dies at 77". The New York Times.
4. ^ WORMS: R. Tucker Abbott

External links

• Media related to Robert Tucker Abbott at Wikimedia Commons