author
Gerrit S. (Gerrit Smith) Miller
1869–1956
A pioneering American zoologist, he spent decades studying mammals and helped shape modern mammalogy through careful classification and museum research. He is especially remembered for influential work on bats, shrews, and other small mammals.
1 Audiobook
Mammals Collected by Dr. W. L. Abbott on the Natuna Islands Proceedings of the Washington Academy of Sciences, Vol. III, pp. 111-138
by Gerrit S. (Gerrit Smith) Miller
About the author
Born in Peterboro, New York, in 1869, Gerrit Smith Miller Jr. developed an early interest in natural history and later graduated from Harvard University in 1894. He went on to work with Clinton Hart Merriam and built a long career connected with the United States National Museum, today part of the Smithsonian.
Miller became one of the leading mammalogists of his time. He served as Curator of Mammals from 1908 to 1940 and published major studies on the classification of mammals, with especially important work on bats and shrews. His research helped organize knowledge of North American and European mammals in a way that remained useful for later scientists.
Alongside zoology, he also had interests in botany and primate studies, and his papers show the wide range of questions that occupied him over many years. His long association with museum collections and scientific description left a lasting mark on the study of mammals.