Oldfield Thomas

British mammalogist (1858–1929)

Not to be confused with Thomas Oldfield.

Oldfield Thomas

FRS FZS

Painting by John Ernest Breun

Born|

Michael Rogers Oldfield Thomas

21 February 1858

Millbrook, Bedfordshire, England

Died| 16 June 1929(1929-06-16) (aged 71)
Known for| Mammalogy
Scientific career
Fields| Zoology
Institutions| Natural History Museum
Author abbrev. (zoology)| Thomas

Michael Rogers Oldfield Thomas FRS FZS (21 February 1858 – 16 June 1929) was a British zoologist.[1][2][3]

## Career

[edit]

Thomas worked at the Natural History Museum on mammals, describing about 2,000 new species and subspecies for the first time. He was appointed to the museum secretary's office in 1876, transferring to the zoological department in 1878.

In 1891, Thomas married Mary Kane, daughter of Sir Andrew Clark, heiress to a small fortune, which gave him the finances to hire mammal collectors and present their specimens to the museum.[4] He also did field work himself in Western Europe and South America. His wife shared his interest in natural history, and accompanied him on collecting trips.[2] In 1896, when William Henry Flower took control of the department, he hired Richard Lydekker to rearrange the exhibitions,[5] allowing Thomas to concentrate on these new specimens.[6][7]

Thomas viewed his taxonomy efforts from the scope of British imperialism. "You and I in our scientific lives have seen the general knowledge of Mammals of the world wonderfully advanced – there are few or no blank areas anymore", he said in a letter to Gerrit Smith Miller Jr.[4]

Officially retired from the museum in 1923, he continued his work without interruption. Although popular rumours suggested he died by shooting himself with a handgun while sitting at his museum desk,[8] he actually died at home[9] in 1929, aged 71, about a year after the death of his wife, "a severe blow from which he never recovered."[2]

## Taxonomic descriptions

[edit]

### Higher ranks

[edit]

1. Deomyinae
2. Desmanini
3. Myzopodidae
4. Ochotonidae
5. Phalangeroidea
6. Procaviidae

### Genera

[edit]

1. Aethalops
2. Aethomys
3. Ammodillus
4. Ammodorcas
5. Anisomys
6. Anthops
7.   8. Batomys
9. Beamys
10. Belomys
11. Blarinella
12. Brachiones
13. Bunomys
14.   15. Caenolestes
16. Callicebus
17. Calomyscus
18. Caloprymnus
19. Cannomys
20. Carpomys
21. Casinycteris
22. Chiromyscus
23. Chiruromys
24. Choeroniscus
25. Chrotogale
26. Chrotomys
27. Cistugo
28. Cloeotis
29. Clyomys
30. Colomys
31. Crateromys
32. Crossomys
33. Crunomys
34. Ctenomys
35. Cynomops
36. Cyttarops

1. Dacnomys
2. Damaliscus
3. Deomys
4. Dephomys
5. Desmodillus
6. Desmomys
7. Diomys
8. Diplogale
9. Diplomys
10. Diplothrix
11. Dologale
12. Dromiciops
13. Dryomys
14.   15. Epixerus
16. Eupetaurus
17. Euxerus
18.   19. Galeopterus
20. Gerbilliscus
21. Glaucomys
22. Glironia
23. Glirulus
24. Glyphonycteris
25. Glyphotes
26. Grammomys
27.   28. Hadromys
29. Haeromys
30. Harpiola
31. Harpyionycteris
32. Hybomys
33. Hylochoerus
34. Hylomyscus
35. Hylonycteris
36. Hylopetes
37. Hyomys
38.   39. Ia
40. Ichthyomys
41. Iomys
42.   43. Laephotis
44. Lariscus
45. Leggadina
46. Lemmiscus
47. Lenomys
48. Leporillus
49. Leptomys
50. Lichonycteris
51. Lionycteris
52. Lonchophylla
53. Lonchothrix
54.   55. Mallomys
56. Mastacomys
57. Mastomys
58. Melanomys
59. Melomys
60. Menetes
61. Mesophylla
62. Microdillus
63. Microgale
64. Microryzomys
65. Millardia
66. Mimetillus
67. Muriculus
68. Mylomys
69. Myoprocta
70. Myosciurus
71. Myotomys
72.   73. Neacomys
74. Nesoromys
75.   76. Octomys
77. Oecomys
78. Oenomys
79. Oreonax
80. Otomops
81.   82. Parotomys
83. Peroryctes
84. Petaurillus
85. Petinomys
86. Petromyscus
87. Pharotis
88. Philetor
89. Platalina
90. Platymops
91. Poecilogale
92. Praomys
93. Proedromys
94. Pteralopex
95. Pteromyscus
96.   97. Rhabdomys
98. Rheomys
99. Rhynchogale
100. Rhynchomys
101.   102. Sciurillus
103. Scleronycteris
104. Scotinomys
105. Scotoecus
106. Scutisorex
107. Sminthopsis
108. Solomys
109. Stochomys
110. Surdisorex
111. Sylvisorex
112.   113. Taterillus
114. Thallomys
115. Thamnomys
116.   117. Vampyressa
118. Vampyriscus
119. Vampyrodes
120.   121. Xeromys
122.   123. Zyzomys

### Species

[edit]

1. Admiralty flying fox
2. Asian particolored bat
3. Azores noctule
4. Bare-tailed armored tree-rat
5. Beatrix's bat
6. Bibundi bat
7. Birdlike noctule
8. Bonthain rat
9. Brooks's dyak fruit bat
10. Buff-bellied fat-tailed mouse opossum
11. Dark-brown serotine
12. Dayak fruit bat
13. Desert woodrat
14. Egyptian pipistrelle
15. Ethiopian hare
16. Euryoryzomys macconnelli
17. Forrest's pika
18. Buller's pocket gopher
19. Gerbillus allenbyi
20. Gerbillus bonhotei
21. Gerbillus eatoni
22. Great evening bat
23. Greater bamboo bat
24. Greater Papuan pipistrelle
25. Greater sheath-tailed bat
26. Guadalcanal monkey-faced bat
27. Hairy-footed flying squirrel
28. Harpy fruit bat
29. Hinde's lesser house bat
30. Holochilus chacarius
31. Hylomyscus aeta
32. Indonesian mountain weasel
33. Intermediate long-fingered bat
34. Isabelle's ghost bat
35. Junín red squirrel
36. Korean hare
37. Lagos serotine
38. Large Luzon forest rat
39. Lesser long-fingered bat
40. Light-winged lesser house bat
41. Long-tailed planigale
42. Bengal slow loris
43. Javan slow loris
44. Luzon hairy-tailed rat
45. Maclear's rat
46. Goeldi's marmoset
47. Melanomys robustulus
48. Mindomys hammondi
49. Miniopterus manavi
50. Monito del monte
51. Mount Popa pipistrelle
52. Bare-tailed woolly mouse opossum
53. White-bellied woolly mouse opossum
54. Woolly mouse opossum
55. Mouse-like hamster
56. Neacomys guianae
57. Neacomys spinosus
58. Neacomys tenuipes
59. Nectomys magdalenae
60. Nephelomys auriventer
61. Nephelomys caracolus
62. Nephelomys childi
63. Nephelomys levipes
64. Nephelomys meridensis
65. Nesoryzomys indefessus
66. New Guinea long-eared bat
67. Oecomys flavicans
68. Oecomys mamorae
69. Oecomys paricola
70. Oecomys phaeotis
71. Oecomys rex
72. Oecomys roberti
73. Oecomys superans
74. Oligoryzomys arenalis
75. Oligoryzomys victus
76. Opossum rat
77. Oreoryzomys balneator
78. Oryzomys peninsulae
79. Parahydromys asper
80. Paruromys dominator
81. Persian vole
82. Pratt's roundleaf bat
83. Proechimys roberti
84. Pygmy fruit bat
85. Sculptor squirrel
86. Scutisorex somereni
87. Southern common cuscus
88. Sphaerias blanfordi
89. Spinifex hopping mouse
90. Strange big-eared brown bat
91. Sturdee's pipistrelle
92. Sulawesi giant rat
93. Surat serotine
94. Szechwan myotis
95. Taiwan field mouse
96. Thomas's yellow bat
97. Tiny pipistrelle
98. Velvety fruit-eating bat
99. Inland broad-nosed bat
100. White-bellied lesser house bat
101. White-tipped tufted-tailed rat
102. Woolly flying squirrel
103. Woolly-headed spiny tree-rat
104. Zygodontomys brunneus
105. Zyzomys argurus

## See also

[edit]

* Category:Taxa named by Oldfield Thomas

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Thomas, Oldfield". Who's Who. Vol. 59\. A & C Black. 1907. p. 1737.
2. ^ a b c Haddon, Alfred Cort (1929). "MR. M. R. Oldfield Thomas, F.R.S". Nature. 124 (3116): 101–102. Bibcode:1929Natur.124..101M. doi:10.1038/124101a0. ISSN 0028-0836.
3. ^ Haddon, Albert Cort (9 May 1901). "M. R. Oldfield Thomas". Nature. 64 (1645): 37–38. doi:10.1038/064038a0. Archived from the original on 24 September 2020. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
4. ^ a b Driskell, Jay (19 January 2016). "Between Science and Empire: Oldfield Thomas and Anglo-American Zoology". Smithsonian Institution Archives. Archived from the original on 24 June 2019. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
5. ^ The Natural History Museum at South Kensington, William T. Stearn ISBN 0-434-73600-7
6. ^ Oldfield Thomas, Catalogue of the Marsupialia and Monotremata in the Collection of the British Museum (Natural History) Dept of Zoology (1888), Taylor and Francis, London Catalogue of the Marsupialia... full text
7. ^ Oldfield Thomas F. R. S., The History of the Collections Contained in the Natural History Departments of the British Museum Vol. II, Separate Historical accounts of the Historical Collections included in the Department of Zoology, I. Mammals,(1906) William Clowes and Sons Ltd. London. retrieved 21 March 2007 The History of the Collections..." full text Archived 29 June 2016 at the Wayback Machine
8. ^ Flannery, T. (6 November 2012). Among the Islands: Adventures in the Pacific. Grove/Atlantic, Incorporated. ISBN 978-0-8021-9404-6. OCLC 793838823. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
9. ^ Portch, Lorraine (18 November 2015). "Michael Rogers Oldfield Thomas – a resolved ending to a suicide mystery". London: Blogs from the Natural History Museum. Archived from the original on 4 February 2018. Retrieved 17 May 2017.

## External links

[edit]

Scholia has a profile for Michael Roger Oldfield Thomas (Q318207).

* Works by or about Michael Roger Oldfield Thomas at Wikisource

## Further reading

[edit]

* The collected works of Oldfield Thomas

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