author

Keith R. Kelson

Best known as a mammalogist and coauthor of the landmark reference work The Mammals of North America, he spent much of his career studying the classification and distribution of North American rodents. His writing reflects a careful, field-based approach to natural history that still appeals to readers interested in wildlife and taxonomy.

6 Audiobooks

Comments on the Taxonomy and Geographic Distribution of Some North American Rodents

Comments on the Taxonomy and Geographic Distribution of Some North American Rodents

by E. Raymond (Eugene Raymond) Hall, Keith R. Kelson

The Subspecies of the Mexican Red-Bellied Squirrel, Sciurus aureogaster

The Subspecies of the Mexican Red-Bellied Squirrel, Sciurus aureogaster

by Keith R. Kelson

Comments on the Taxonomy and Geographic Distribution of Some North American Rabbits

Comments on the Taxonomy and Geographic Distribution of Some North American Rabbits

by E. Raymond (Eugene Raymond) Hall, Keith R. Kelson

The Subspecific Status of Two Central American Sloths

The Subspecific Status of Two Central American Sloths

by E. Raymond (Eugene Raymond) Hall, Keith R. Kelson

A New Subspecies of Microtus montanus from Montana and Comments on Microtus canicaudus Miller

A New Subspecies of Microtus montanus from Montana and Comments on Microtus canicaudus Miller

by E. Raymond (Eugene Raymond) Hall, Keith R. Kelson

Comments on the Taxonomy and Geographic Distribution of Some North American Marsupials, Insectivores and Carnivores

Comments on the Taxonomy and Geographic Distribution of Some North American Marsupials, Insectivores and Carnivores

by E. Raymond (Eugene Raymond) Hall, Keith R. Kelson

About the author

Keith R. Kelson was an American mammalogist and zoologist born in Wales, Utah, on August 11, 1918. His scientific work focused on mammals, especially rodents, and several of his early publications were tied to research in Utah and the broader American West.

He is closely associated with Speciation in Rodents of the Colorado River Drainage of Eastern Utah (1951), a specialized study published by the University of Utah, and with the influential two-volume reference The Mammals of North America (1959), written with E. Raymond Hall. Those works helped document the diversity, classification, and geographic distribution of North American mammals in a detailed and lasting way.

Kelson died on May 22, 2005. While biographical details about his life are not widely documented online, the record of his publications shows a researcher deeply involved in mid-20th-century mammalogy and systematics.