Alfred Gardner, Ph.D.
Biography
Dr. Gardner's research includes taxonomy, morphology, genetics, distribution, food habits, life history, and nomenclature of mammals of the Western Hemisphere. Reseach is based on a synthesis of original field work and results from the study of specimens in museum collections combined with published information, particularly the earlier literature of the late 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries.
EDUCATION
University of Arizona, Tucson, Wildlife Management (major), B.S., 1962
University of Arizona, Tucson, Zoology (major), Vertebrate Paleontology (minor), M.S., 1965
Fellow in Tropical Medicine, Louisiana State University--International Center for Medical Research and Training, San José, Costa Rica, 1966-1967.
Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Vertebrate Zoology (major), Paleontology (minor) Ph.D., 1970
Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Biology, University of Texas M. D. Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute, Houston, Texas, 1970-1971.
Science and Products
Biological Survey Unit
Scientists and staff of the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center stationed at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) do research on the systematics and conservation of vertebrate species and curate and manage the North American collections of Amphibian, Reptile, Bird, and Mammal specimens and associated records.
Mammal Collections
The North American mammal collection contains roughly 300,000 specimens and has grown little over the past 15 years. Geographic representation is excellent for most areas of North and Central America; the arid regions of the southwestern United States are particularly well represented. The standard preparation is the skin and skull of which there are about 190,000 specimens. Other major...
The Mammals of South America
The Challenge: Accurate comprehensive information on current names of species and subspecies, their distributions, and means for their identification are required for effective conservation, management, scientific study, and enforcement of laws governing take, protection, and commerce. For the South American continent, up-to-date references containing this information have not been available...
Taxonomic reassessment of bats from Castelnau’s expedition to South America (1843–1847): Phyllostoma angusticeps Gervais, 1856 (Chiroptera, Phyllostomidae)
Gervais, in 1856, described the bats collected during Castelnau’s expedition through South America (1843–1847). We report that Phyllostoma angusticeps (Gervais, 1856), long treated as a junior synonym of Phyllostomus discolor(Wagner, 1843), is not a representative of the genus Phyllostomus. In fact, as we demonstrate, it...
Arroyo-Cabrales, Joaquín; Gardner, Alfred; Sigé, Bernard; Catzeflis, Francois; McCarthy, Timothy J. A new species of Myotis (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) from Suriname
We describe a new species of bat in the genus Myotis (Vespertilionidae: Myotinae) from the district of Sipaliwini, Suriname. The new species (Myotis clydejonesi sp. nov.), known from a single specimen, is sister to a clade of M. nigricans (Schinz) from southern South America, but differs from all Neotropical species of Myotis in qualitative and...
Moratelli, Ricardo; Wilson, Don E.; Gardner, Alfred; Fisher, Robert D.; Gutiérrez, Eliécer E. United States Biological Survey: A compendium of its history, personalities, impacts, and conflicts
In 1885, a small three-person unit was created in the U.S. Department of Agriculture to gather and analyze information on bird migrations. Originally called the Section of Economic Ornithology, over the next 55 years this unit underwent three name changes and accumulated ever-increasing responsibilities for the nation’s faunal resources....
Schmidly, David J.; Tydeman, W. E.; Gardner, Alfred L. Comment on Spracklandus Hoser, 2009 (Reptilia, Serpentes, ELAPIDAE): request for confirmation of availability of the generic name and for the nomenclatural validation of the journal in which it was published (Case 3601; BZN 70:234–237; 71:30–38; 133-135,181-182 ,252-253)
In Case 3601 Raymond Hoser has asked the Commission to validate for the purposes of nomenclature the name Spracklandus Hoser, 2009, and ‘the journal in which it was published,’ issue 7 of the Australasian Journal of Herpetology (AJH). We note that the entire run of AJH has been written, edited, and published solely by Hoser. Although...
Rhodin, Anders G.J.; Kaiser, Hinrich; van Dijk, Peter Paul; Wüster, Wolfgang; O’Shea, Mark; Archer, Michael; Auliya, Mark; Boitani, Luigi; Bour, Roger; Clausnitzer, Viola; Contreras-MacBeath, Topiltzin; Crother, Brian I.; Daza, Juan M.; Driscoll, Carlos A.; Flores-Villela, Oscar; Frazier, Jack; Fritz, Uwe; Gardner, Alfred L.; Gascon, Claude; Georges, Arthur; Glaw, Frank; Grazziotin, Felipe G.; Groves, Colin P.; Haszprunar, Gerhard; Havaš, Peter; Hero, Jean-Marc; Hoffmann, Michael; Hoogmoed, Marinus S.; Horne, Brian D.; Iverson, John B.; Jäch, Manfred; Jenkins, Christopher L.; Jenkins, Richard K.B.; Kiester, A. Ross; Keogh, J. Scott; Lacher, Thomas E.; Lovich, Jeffrey E.; Luiselli, Luca; Mahler, D. Luke; Mallon, David P.; Mast, Roderic; McDiarmid, Roy W.; Measey, John; Mittermeier, Russell A.; Molur, Sanjay; Mosbrugger, Volker; Murphy, Robert W.; Naish, Darren; Niekisch, Manfred; Ota, Hidetoshi; Parham, James F.; Parr, Michael J.; Pilcher, Nicolas J.; Pine, Ronald H.; Rylands, Anthony B.; Sanderson, James G.; Savage, Jay M.; Schleip, Wulf; Scrocchi, Gustavo J.; Shaffer, H. Bradley; Smith, Eric N.; Sprackland, Robert; Stuart, Simon N.; Vetter, Holger; Vitt, Laurie J.; Waller, Tomás; Webb, Grahame; Wilson, Edward O.; Zaher, Hussam; Thomson, Scott Systematics of Vampyressa melissa Thomas, 1926 (Chiroptera, Phyllostomidae), with descriptions of two new species of Vampyressa
Vampyressa melissa is a poorly known phyllostomid bat listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Since its description in 1926, fewer than 40 V. melissa have been reported in the literature, and less than half of these may have been correctly identified. During revisionary studies of Vampyressa, we uncovered...
Tavares, Valéria da C.; Gardner, Alfred L.; Ramírez-Chaves, Héctor E.; Velazco, Paúl M. List of recent land mammals from Mexico, 2014
We provide an updated list of the Recent land mammals of Mexico and include information on the taxonomy of certain species, and where appropriate, the endemic and threatened status of all species listed. Several taxonomic and nomenclatural changes have been made since publication of the last list of the Mexican terrestrial mammalian fauna. Within...
Ramirez-Pulido, Jose; Gonzalez-Ruiz, Noe; Gardner, Alfred L.; Arroyo-Cabrales, Joaquin The valid generic name for red-backed voles (Muroidea: Cricetidae: Arvicolinae): Restatement of the case for Myodes Pallas, 1811
In view of contradictions in the recent literature, the valid genus-group name to be applied to northern red-backed voles— Myodes Pallas, 1811, or Clethrionomys Tilesius, 1850—is reviewed. To develop the thesis that Myodes (type species, Mus rutilus Pallas, 1779) is the correct name, our discussion explores...
Carleton, Michael D.; Gardner, Alfred L.; Pavlinov, Igor Ya.; Musser, Guy G. A new species of Lophostoma d'Orbigny, 1836 (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) from Panama
We report the discovery of a new species of Lophostoma from Panama, which we name L. kalkoae. This new species resembles L. carrikeri and L. yasuni in possessing a white venter, but is distinguishable from both by external and cranial characteristics. The new species is similar in size to L. carrikeri and L. schulzi. Lophostoma sp. nov. can be...
Velazco, Paúl M.; Gardner, Alfred L. Systematics of the Platyrrhinus helleri species complex (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae), with descriptions of two new species
Platyrrhinus is a diverse genus of small to large phyllostomid bats characterized by a comparatively narrow uropatagium thickly fringed with hair, a white dorsal stripe, comparatively large inner upper incisors that are convergent at the tips, and three upper and three lower molars. Eighteen species are currently recognized, the majority occurring...
Velazco, Paúl M.; Gardner, Alfred L.; Patterson, Bruce D. A new species of Platyrrhinus (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) from western Colombia and Ecuador, with emended diagnoses of P. aquilus, P. dorsalis, and P. umbratus
The Neotropical bat genus Platyrrhinus (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae: Stenodermatinae) currently comprises 15 species. Our morphological and morphometric analysis of large and medium-sized Platyrrhinus revealed a distinctive Undescribed species from western South America. We also recognize P. aquilus (Handley & Ferris 1972) and P. umbratus (Lyon...
Velazco, Paúl M.; Gardner, Alfred L. A new species of Reithrodontomys, subgenus Aporodon (Cricetidae: Neotominae), from the highlands of Costa Rica, with comments on Costa Rican and Panamanian Reithrodontomys
A new species of the rodent genus Reithrodontomys (Cricetidae: Neotominae) is described from Cerro Asuncion in the western Cordillera de Talamanca, Costa Rica. The long tail, elongate rostrum, bulbous braincase, and complex molars of the new species associate it with members of the subgenus Aporodon, tenuirostris species group. In its diminutive...
Gardner, Alfred L.; Carleton, Michael D. Mammals of South America, Volume 1, Marsupials, Xenarthrans, Shrews, and Bats
The vast terrain between Panama and Tierra del Fuego contains some of the world?s richest mammalian fauna, but until now it has lacked a comprehensive systematic reference to the identification, distribution, and taxonomy of its mammals. The first such book of its kind and the inaugural volume in a three-part series, Mammals of South America both...
Gardner, A.L.