Remington Kellogg
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (March 2013) |
Remington Kellogg | |
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Zoologist | |
Spouse | Marguerite Henrich |
Arthur Remington Kellogg (5 October 1892 – 8 May 1969) was an American naturalist and a director of the United States National Museum. His work focused on marine mammals.
Early life and career
Kellogg was born in Davenport, Iowa, and quickly dropped the name "Arthur". From a young age he devoted his free time to the study of wildlife. He built up his own small collection of mounted birds and mammals and by the time he came to choose a university he had determined he would become a naturalist. Choosing the University of Kansas as it offered courses in his chosen field, he first studied entomology, later switching to the study of mammals. From 1913 to 1916 he worked under Charles D. Bunker, the curator of birds and mammals at the university's Museum of Natural History. He published his first paper as a result of his work with Bunker. Kellogg graduated in 1915 and received his M.A. the following year.
After graduating, he immediately began work with the
He served in the Army in France during World War I, but still found time to collect specimens which he sent back to Berkeley and the University of Kansas. He was discharged in July 1919 and returned to Berkeley to complete his doctorate, transferring from zoology to study vertebrate paleontology under Merriam.
In 1921 he became assistant biologist for the Biological Survey based in Washington, and worked there for the next eight years, concerned chiefly with studying toads and the feeding habits of hawks and owls. He also undertook a study to determine whether alligators were a predatory risk to help resolve controversy over their hunting. Merriam encouraged Kellogg to use his free time to study the fossilized marine mammals of Calvert Cliffs in Maryland. He added considerably to the collections created by previous expeditions and used the experience he gained as the basis for his Ph.D. thesis, entitled The History of Whales - Their Adaptation to Life in the Water in which he studied the specializations needed for mammalian organs to adjust to life in water.
In 1928 Kellogg became assistant curator at the United States National Museum and in 1941 became curator. At the museum he devoted time to studying the
His Ph.D. thesis had established him as an authority on cetaceans, and with concern growing over the need to protect whales from
Later life
He retired from his posts at the Smithsonian in 1962, but continued to work on his study of Miocene Cetacea, publishing nine papers on fossil marine mammals between 1965 and 1969. Ill-health, coupled with frustration over the lack of progress, forced him to abandon his work with the International Whaling Commission after 1964.
He died of a heart attack at his home in Washington on 8 May 1969 whilst recuperating from a broken pelvis.
References
- ^ "Remington Kellogg". www.nasonline.org. Retrieved 2023-01-17.
- ^ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 2023-01-17.
- ^ "Arthur Remington Kellogg". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 2023-01-17.
- Frank C. Whitmore, Jr. (1975). "Remington Kellogg". Biographical Memoirs V.46. National Academy of Sciences (NAS). pp. 159–174.