| Dennis Hubert Chitty | |
| Birth Date: | 18 September 1912 |
| Birth Place: | Bristol, England |
| Death Place: | Vancouver, British Columbia |
| Doctoral Advisor: | Charles Sutherland Elton |
| Doctoral Students: | Charles Krebs |
| Thesis Title: | Factors controlling the density of wild populations, with special reference to fluctuations in the vole (Microtus) and the snowshoe rabbit (Lepus americanus) |
| Thesis Url: | http://solo.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/OXVU1:LSCOP_OX:oxfaleph013214545 |
| Thesis Year: | 1949 |
| Known For: | Chitty Hypothesis of Population Regulation |
Dennis Hubert Chitty (18 September 1912 – 3 February 2010), was a professor of zoology at the University of British Columbia. In 1969, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.[1]
The Chitty Hypothesis of Population Regulation states that population density is limited by spacing behaviour, which has genetic underpinnings and rapidly responds to natural selection.[2] Because of the controversial nature of this idea at the time, David Lack attempted to veto Chitty's dissertation, though it was eventually accepted because of the intervention of Peter Medawar.[3]