Richard L. Zusi Explained

Richard Laurence Zusi
Birth Date:27 January 1930
Birth Place:Winchester, Massachusetts, US
Death Place:Olympia, Washington
Field:Ornithology
Taxidermy
Spouse:Luvia

Richard Laurence Zusi (1930-2024)[1] was an American ornithologist, known as a world-class expert on hummingbird anatomy[2] and the functional anatomy of birds, in particular "avian jaw mechanics and the evolution of structural complexes."[3]

Education and career

Zusi grew up in Toronto. He graduated in 1951 with a bachelor's degree from Northwestern University. In the zoology department of the University of Michigan he graduated with an M.S. in 1953 and a Ph.D. in 1959. From 1958 to 1963 he taught at the University of Maine. In 1963 he was hired by Philip Strong Humphrey (1926–2009) for the Division of Birds of the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.[3]

Zusi was chiefly responsible for the modernization[2] of the Smithsonian Institution's avian skeleton collection (over 30,000 specimens) and avian fluid-preserved collection (over 10,000 specimens).[3] [4] (The fluid used is commonly ethanol or isopropyl alcohol.)

Zusi has collected avian specimens not only in the United States and Canada, but also in South America (Brazil, Ecuador, Venezuela), the Caribbean (Dominica), and Iceland. He was the principal curator of the Roger Tory Peterson Exhibition,[3] which was displayed from April to September in 1984.[5] He retired in 1994[2] with the title "curator emeritus".

He was elected a fellow of the American Ornithologists' Union (AOU) in 1971.[3]

Selected publications

Eponyms

References

  1. Howe . Marshall A. . Richard L. Zusi, 1930–2024 . Ornithology . 4 May 2024 . ukae014 . 10.1093/ornithology/ukae014. free .
  2. Web site: Hall of Fame | Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.
  3. Book: Perry, Matthew C. . Zusi, Richard L. (Former Member) . The Washington Biologists' Field Club: Its Members and its History (1900–2006) . Washington Biologists’ Field Club . Washington, D.C. . 2007 . 978-0-615-16259-1 . 295–296 . https://wbfc.science/single/?smid=889 .
  4. Web site: Bird Specimens (National Museum of Natural History). USGS.
  5. Web site: Roger Tory Peterson at the Smithsonian // by Richard L. Zusi. Smithsonian Libraries.

External links

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