Richard L. Hoffman

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Richard L. Hoffman
Diplopodology, entomology, herpetology
InstitutionsRadford University, Virginia Museum of Natural History
Doctoral advisorPerry C. Holt

Richard Lawrence Hoffman (September 25, 1927 – June 10, 2012) was an American

Hoffman's dwarf centipede
(Nannarrup hoffmani).

Biography

Richard Hoffman was born in

oligochaete worms that are commensal on crayfish. His doctoral advisor at Virginia Tech was Dr. Perry C. Holt.[2]

After completing his PhD, Hoffman worked as professor of biology at Radford College (now known as Radford University) from 1960 to 1988. Over this 28-year period, Hoffman taught a number of courses including introductory biology and zoology, invertebrate zoology, entomology, herpetology, mammalogy, biogeography, and the history of science. From 1964 to 1970 Hoffman edited The Radford Review, the college's scholarly journal.[2] Hoffman made dramatic improvements to the collections of the Radford Natural History Museum.[3] From 1989 to 2009, Hoffman worked as Curator of Recent Invertebrates at the Virginia Museum of Natural History.[2]

Hoffman died on June 10, 2012, at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital in Roanoke, Virginia, following heart surgery.[4] He was 84. His contributions to science and education were formally recognized by the Virginia General Assembly in 2013.[5]

Research

In 2011 Hoffman and colleagues described Psammodesmus bryophorus, a millipede that uses moss for camouflage.

Hoffman was recognized as the world's leading authority of

ozadene and "ozopore" for the defensive glands and accompanying openings of millipedes,[9] and the term "ocellarium" for the patches of ocelli on each side of the head, also known as ocular fields or "eyes".[10] He also published on fossil millipedes, describing extinct groups[11] and producing a "classic summary" of the millipede fossil record for the Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology.[12] In 2007, a festschrift consisting of papers from 41 authors on four continents was assembled in honor of Hoffman's 80th birthday.[13]

External videos
video icon Virginia Museum of Natural History video featuring Dr. Hoffman, on YouTube

Hoffman also wrote over 70 papers on the natural history and conservation of reptiles and amphibians. The

arachnids, and other invertebrates, and co-founded The Insects of Virginia, a series of occasional publications which ran from 1969 to 2006.[2][14] Nine insects, three crustaceans, a nematode, an annelid, and a genus of mites have been named after him.[2]

Influences

Roble and Mitchell write that Hoffman's meeting with Hobbs as an undergraduate was the "most significant event in shaping Richard's future career", from whom he learned how to be a good scientist, and whom Hoffman later considered his only true mentor.[2] Hoffman also expressed admiration for the late Dutch biologist C. A. W. Jeekel, whose early correspondence and subsequent friendship affected Hoffman's approach to taxonomy. Hoffman wrote that Jeekel's 1971 Nomenclator Generum et Familiarum Diplopodorum "set the standard for milliped systematics in the era that is now ending" and that Jeekel was somewhat a role model, and "the only person who I conceded to be my master in our field of interest".[15] Despite working with Chamberlin early in his career, Hoffman later described the period as "under the malign influence of R.V. Chamberlin, an exemplar of minimal taxonomy", while Hoffman favored rich descriptions synthesizing previous relevant literature rather than scant, isolated descriptions.[15]

Major works

  • Chamberlin, R. V.; —— (1958). "Checklist of the millipeds of North America". Bulletin of the United States National Museum (212): 1–236.
    hdl:2027/osu.32435029595998
    .
  • —— (1963). "A revision of the North American annelid worms of the genus Cambarincola (Oligochaeta: Branchiobdellidae)". Proceedings of the United States National Museum. 114 (3470): 271–371.
    doi:10.5479/si.00963801.114-3470.271
    .
  • —— (1969). "Myriapoda, exclusive of Insecta". In Moore, R. C. (ed.). Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology, Pt. R, Arthropoda. Vol. 2. Geological Society of America, Inc., and The University of Kansas. pp. R572–606.
  • Holt, P. C.; ——; C. W. Hart, Jr., eds. (1969). The Distributional History of the Biota of the Southern Appalachians. Part I: Invertebrates. Research Division Monograph 1. Blacksburg, VA: Virginia Polytechnic Institute.
  • —— (1980). Classification of the Diplopoda. Geneva: Muséum d'Historie Naturelle.
  • —— (1982). "Diplopoda". In Parker, S. P. (ed.). Synopsis and Classification of Living Organisms. Vol. 2. New York: McGraw Hill. pp. 689–724.
    ISBN 978-0-07-079031-5
    .
  • —— (1990). "Myriapoda 4. Polydesmida: Oxydesmidae". Das Tierreich. 107.
  • —— (1999). Checklist of the Millipeds of North and Middle America. Special Publications. Vol. 8. Virginia Museum of Natural History.
  • —— (2005). Monograph of the Gomphodesmidae, a Family of African Polydesmoid Millipeds. Vienna: Naturhistorisches Museum.

Eponymous taxa

The following is a selection of taxa named after Hoffman.

See also

References

  1. ^ Stagl, V. (2012). "Richard L. Hoffman (1927–2012) – Obituary" (PDF). Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien, B. 114: 5–8.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Roble, Steven M.; Mitchell, Joseph C. (2012). "Obituary: Richard Lawrence Hoffman (1927-2012)" (PDF). Banisteria (40): 5–14.
  3. ^ Ferguson, Michelle (2013). "Dr. Richard L. Hoffman and his Contributions to Radford University". Radford University Biology Department. Retrieved 30 October 2013.
  4. ^ a b Barber, Ryan (June 12, 2012). "VMNH scientist Richard Hoffman dies at 84". Martinsville Bulletin. Archived from the original on May 24, 2014.
  5. ^ "HJ554: Celebrating the life of Dr. Richard L. Hoffman". Virginia General Assembly Legislative Information System. Commonwealth of Virginia. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
  6. hdl:2027/osu.32435029595998
    .
  7. ^ Chamberlin (1918). "The Chilopoda and Diplopoda of the West Indies". Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. 62 (5): 149–262.
  8. ^ Loomis, H. F. (1968). A checklist of the millipeds of Mexico and Central America. Bull. U.S. Nat. Mus, 266; 1-137
  9. ISBN 978-1616461430
    .
  10. doi:10.5479/si.00963801.111-3426.95
    .: 100 
  11. JSTOR 1301419
    .
  12. PMID 17163800
    .
  13. ^ Evans, Arthur (2010). "Reviews: A Lifetime of Contributions to Myriapodology and the Natural History of Virginia: A Festschrift in Honor of Richard L. Hoffman's 80th Birthday" (PDF). Banisteria. 35: 70–71.
  14. ^ "A Lifetime of Contributions to Myriapodology and the Natural History of Virginia". Virginia Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 30 October 2013.
  15. ^
    PMC 3253571
    .
  16. ^ Golovatch, S. I.; Z. Korsós (1992). "Diplopoda collected by the Soviet Zoological Expedition to the Seychelles Islands in 1984". Acta Zoologica Hungarica. 38 (1–2): 1–31.
  17. doi:10.5852/ejt.2014.100
    . The name honours Richard L. Hoffman (1927–2012) global grand-master of diplopodology through much of the last half of the previous, as well as the first decade of the present century. Vilici is the genitive case of the Latin noun vilicus, meaning 'steward', which is also the original meaning of the name Hoffman.

External links
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