Obituary: Terry A. Vaughan (1928–2022)

Dr. Terry A. Vaughan passed away at the age of 94 on 9 August 2022 at his home in Rimrock, Arizona, after suffering a stroke during his long convalescence from COVID-19. Terry left his mark in mammalogy as a scholar, author, educator, researcher, and in his service to the American Society of Mammalogists (ASM). He also had an expanded legacy as a wildlife artist, adventurer, and a mentor with a strong, straight, and true moral and ethical compass. Tall, lean, and strong in stature yet usually gentle and cheerful in his demeanor (but with ways that left no doubt when he signaled disapproval), Terry was one of the giants of mammalogy during the latter half of the mid-20th Century. His work helped bridge mammalogy through an era dominated by morphology-based taxonomy and limited natural history observations to more field-oriented comparative approaches and ecologically relevant life history studies. In 1979, he was the fourth person to be honored with the ASM’s C. Hart Merriam Award, the Society’s highest research, teaching, and service award. His service to ASM included intermittent terms on the Board of Directors (1968–1970, 1975–1980), two terms as Second Vice President (1976–77, 1980–82), and a term as sole Editor of Feature Articles for Journal of Mammalogy (JM, 1967–68). As a researcher, Terry’s work emphasized bats and rodents using comparative analyses, well-designed field sampling, and supplemental laboratory experiments. His publications based on original research spanned 47 years (see accompanying Bibliography), with the majority appearing in JM. As an educator, his chief contributions were teaching of mammalogy and other university courses in zoology and evolution, mentorship of graduate students, and very importantly six editions of the comprehensive textbook Mammalogy. Throughout all his work, Terry enhanced his efforts with his insightful abilities as an observer, artist, and illustrator, and with his straightforward sense of honesty and modesty. Terry Alfred Vaughan was born on 5 May 1928 in Los Angeles, California, the sole child of Alfred Terry Vaughan, a high school teacher and printer, and Gladys Lucy Vaughan, a homemaker. His maternal grandparents were immigrants from England, and his paternal grandmother was Canadian. His paternal grandfather was a Methodist pastor who immigrated to the U.S. from Northern Ireland via Canada, and who told Terry little about the family in Ireland except that they were “rag-pickers.” Terry’s primary and secondary education was through the Los Angeles public schools, with his childhood home about 2 km from the current Dodger Stadium to the west and in view of the famous “Hollywood” sign to the east. Although Terry grew up in an urban setting, the guidance of his parents helped him to develop his appreciation of nature through outings and camping trips around California, and by instilling a lifelong love of birding and sketching of birds and other wildlife. One of the proudest possessions of his youth was his signed first edition (1941) of the Roger Tory Peterson A Field Guide to Western Birds; years later, in the second edition (1961), Peterson acknowledged Terry among the contributing internal reviewers. Terry’s early abilities as an artist also grew with time and were largely self-taught. His greatest early inspiration came from the paintings of birds by Louis Agassiz Fuertes. Later in life he also admired and learned from the broader wildlife works of Robert Bateman and especially Bob Kuhn of Arizona. Even in the urbanizing environment of Los Angeles, young Terry found remnants of the natural world aplenty. In the conservation chapter of the Mammalogy text (fifth edition, p. 636; sixth edition, p. 608) he wrote that he “grew up in the 1930s on a hill in Los Angeles where colonies of ground squirrels remained, and burrowing owls and roadrunners were common. My neighborhood friends and I, after less than an hour’s bicycle ride, could be in ‘wild country,’ tracts of chaparral and oak woodland where there were deer, gray foxes, bobcats, the lovely California gray squirrel, and an occasional mountain lion. In an entirely natural way, my young friends and I came to revere and even to love this wild country. Children growing up today in the same neighborhood are completely cut off from what natural areas remain by multi-lane boulevards carrying heavy and dangerous traffic and often, more important, by an indifference toward or even fear of wild places.” During Terry’s teens, he continued his interests in nature and art, but he also developed abilities in music, played the clarinet, and was a fan of big band jazz and swing music. He also had slightly darker experiences, perhaps unavoidable for some youth in Los Angeles. He reminisced about racetrack visits with friends and catching glimpses of shady characters as well as Hollywood personalities among the crowds; he also told of a pal sneaking out with him to see the big pistol or “gat” kept in the glove box of a car owned by the pal’s mother’s gangster escort. Terry was too young to serve in World War II, but all his life was impressed by the national solidarity for the war effort. Los Angeles was central to the military aircraft industry, and Terry recalled how he and his friends in their early teens watched with awe as the large, newly minted aircraft took flight overhead, right off the manufacturing lines. (Terry later was drafted into the U.S. Army for two years at the start of his Ph.D. research, serving mainly at Fort Detrick, Maryland.) Like many in their late teens, Terry was unsure of his future goals, and at first attended the University of California at Los Angeles, but the large university atmosphere was dissatisfying. On the advice of a family friend, he switched to the Claremont post-secondary education system where he earned his B.S. degree in Zoology at Pomona College in 1950 and his M.S. degree in zoology at the Claremont Graduate School in 1952 (1; numbers in parentheses without a year refer to works in Terry’s accompanying bibliography). During his undergraduate years, he met Pomona College student Hazel Avis Orcutt of San Diego. Their early acquaintance began in a shared comparative anatomy class and blossomed into marriage in 1950. Terry’s M.S. thesis at Claremont, “A study of the mammals of the San Gabriel Mountains,” was published in the University of Kansas Natural History Museum series in 1954 (5). An ambitious in-depth extension of his youthful wanderings, the study area encompassed the entire mountain range adjacent to Los Angeles, from its lower slopes on the Pacific side over the crest to the Mojave Desert. The mammal survey entailed many field trips in his Model A Ford, many nights of camping, and preparation of many specimens for documentation. The published version in the University of Kansas (KU) series was reminiscent of the early U.S. Biological Survey reports on western mammals by pioneers such as Bailey, Cary, and Osgood. Unanticipated findings resulted in Terry’s first short publication in JM in 1953, a note describing hoary bats (Lasiurus cinereus) in migration (2). He remarked much later that the original submission was not well written, but that he was forever indebted to the JM Editor and future ASM President, William H. Burt, for taking the time to advise him on scientific writing. Terry abided Burt’s guidance for the rest of his career. Another highlight for Terry was being visited in the San Gabriel Mountains by eminent mammalogist Walter P. Taylor (then a former ASM President), who wanted to learn the technique of capturing bats by stretching fine wires across and slightly above the surface of ponds (bats were sampled in 1951, prior to the general use of mist nets by U.S. bat researchers). Of note, field work did not include summer months. Instead, Terry worked at seasonal positions in the Sierra Nevada Mountains at Yosemite National Park and the Plumas National Forest beginning at age 16. This work at natural resource agencies helped financially and provided practical experiences in conservation. Perhaps because of his early fondness for birds, Terry became keenly interested in how bats fly and how differently natural selection acted on their flight characteristics and anatomy. This was largely unexplored territory when Terry started his doctoral studies on the functional morphology of bats, which led him to become a global expert on the topic for at least the next 25 years (9, 10, 21, 27–32, 36, 43, 46). Terry began his doctoral research at the University of Kansas in 1953 (soon interrupted by military service) where he joined a cadre of future leaders in mammalogy who worked under Terry published work with his graduate and H. on to interests in the and of American but Terry’s interests in bat flight were well of areas of This him in his to the field in California, he took a comparative based on observations and studies of of bats with very of and and were in the field in and flight and much to the natural history of in the The field observations the and his of comparative and based on original included and with accompanying his publication He took in and describing a to that he the the of the when the are at Terry was by Dr. Robert and graduate student Terry developed a strong in which he into his Mammalogy text and his The summer of was mammals in the of and of with Dr. and H. who was an undergraduate student at Their summer was a class in which was the student who was for Terry was as the and Dr. the field courses were a the to from the university for their and were a to in In his early Terry recalled to that was my He was and his courses were not by but by to and by to his The summer I in the of were among the and of my I was Dr. field his I became a Dr. and I became Dr. his and Hazel and I had of the and contributions to of and mammals and to the research in at graduate Terry a as research at the and the of at University in Fort the of mammals on using a of field and laboratory in During this same Terry and Hazel began their which of P. Vaughan, Vaughan and A. Although a research the at did not include teaching Terry’s as an began when he joined the of Biological at Northern University Terry was as an of Zoology at in where he his years later as he in the for teaching and research, as a graduate and undergraduate student and courses in general evolution, and During his at Terry the graduate students, all Bateman H. P. C. Roger and that some of Terry’s original research publications are with graduate and but based on the doctoral research of his that research be original work and of on such His mentorship this His was for with doctoral students, he that they had a and were and their but he to his M.S. and more in of his He to to who in his be in the in at Terry’s life a He and Hazel ways in the late Terry met through who was a graduate teaching in his zoology Terry was interested in and of a home in Arizona, where fourth was also an artist, of and had to other during a study area Terry and in love and in to other for the next In his in mammalogy at Terry later wrote that he was with the limited of the he to one The first edition of Mammalogy was published in and was with original by in general out even as well as and his text was no he when the of the first edition in the JM was by William H. Burt, who years had Terry on scientific writing. his by Terry A. Vaughan, in my the text in the field at the next years, Mammalogy became in the education of many of through six the in with and The in JM of the edition Burt’s of the very the of the the edition of Mammalogy an for the sense of at and that by Vaughan its as an text for courses on the of The original for that edition of the were of and The of the edition by included a of the that also to future the on to the students, and a a an very of the text in its edition that also in JM see who was and that through was time with included a from Vaughan that mammalogy a and field in of Terry A. Vaughan as a of zoology at Northern University in early of the of Biological Northern Arizona. A. Vaughan age and bats at the in central in of a that Terry worked on for from a that Terry to the chapter on rodents in the and editions of his textbook Mammalogy. with of Vaughan and Terry’s other publications during his at original research contributions based mainly on his field-oriented studies of bat and This work also had an in mammalogy and was well with his Terry was an of his other publications were in short and with of the latter as first of their Although for his Terry did not for long of to his for up large of Instead, he being in the field He more than when he was up and to his study Throughout his Terry’s field work was in and very to his sense of and his appreciation of his study areas from the and of the of the to high and of the Terry worked at in Arizona, and usually and as in with C. Bateman and Roger and included in for the as well as studies of bats and other in in the Sierra of studies on the large of the took on the and in the of and In Arizona, his studies took among in the at the and National in the of the and in the high of the and National His research in wild with in provided perhaps his the work on the of of large bats from in and on the bat and bat took over a at a at the during a in work on the bat took over during at the of The work at included Vaughan and and During studies in Terry also in positions as a in the of Zoology at the University of and as a at the National of The in of Terry and his family and as to the Vaughan and graduate and and graduate in and a The was later joined by a graduate student at the University of who had found the area to an of his chief of was at a by former big and as a for capturing during the and at the for around the The was in and by the at the western of National was seasonal and the long and to be after in from and to as a mainly for nature and from km who wanted experiences were The was km away at the in the little of a through the and did not were as for and general use was with as a were and to at One was to for the of the The wildlife in the was and As at least of in were at in from to and and of large in from up to and Terry was time and on the in the with with from during the and with at of the to their research to to his Terry’s took him the into the His first of at was to of bats as from the This entailed for very via the many in the in the of a with he were among the many the that also at the their This led Terry to their use by the bats to as they by at in and for He nights and and areas of bats by a usually to the ground in the and The study of the second the came when was that they into the area with the to from high the time Terry was from or the to of the this and or other Although he found that he could bats in a field that he for nights during his other when the was and sampled the bat using mist nets across the of the of in their the two long trips to Terry and on the and life of in and on in the of In Arizona, was found to a from their more during the and were to with of the of with and of in their and as well as in the they provided from were found to be central that did not to to of to other of life history to this include of and of of about one year for In of the of the also were on mainly one of but had than on the were found to be about the of in with resource much time away from and was at least years During the second to in Terry and a large at in more The was the of the bats among the of and a for and they of and and characteristics of this under as well as using and and maternal of their young was during this study that Terry became in one He had after a in an and a This in ways for but Terry continued to and his and in his as well as to and and works for the next The continued for his and his for an life after this to his was of Terry’s Although he continued with to the textbook through Terry from in at the early age of and Terry had many yet to and the next years to friends and and and in on mammal in Western and in during in where they especially their experiences in also in their to wild of the western as as where Terry also his interests in and many years they the west in a birding of led by and U.S. and big the of in In to during they were of American the works of the works of in England, the series in and such as and of the who in the to during World War The were with and former students, with Terry childhood friends in his well into his Terry was very on the of and other in his especially on and watched but Terry also and continued to be a fan of at all especially the He that many years when he was a doctoral student for his comprehensive the nights he from was when he attended home at to for the Although to who Terry him for his and high as well as his He did not or he that was yet he a the for Terry and without perhaps an the that came from in the and continued and home into his He did not and limited use of to an occasional of or one or two One in and Terry came to a in after bats with the late and Bob of the National and at the U.S. National Terry had two and home to his to and Terry as as he the was Vaughan at his at the home he and a Rimrock, Arizona. of Terry and life in their after a in and abilities also began to but Terry entire life at home and much of to at in Terry developed at around age from the in his he from in He was many long in but to home in early to the of his He was about his but about its In he wrote a my but that with his He was to be at home to be with the birds and In a to 2022 he on my and to my My of my to The that without the to their years, after his Terry and and their home in a a at Rimrock, Arizona. The home a of large that into their study and the area of the home were many paintings by and and from their and some The that the ASM Merriam and a of the original of the with its in by positions in the the the of the had an adjacent with a and area with and other This area and by birds and other wildlife. the and the the across the the one could the of the of summer and the of above the to a in summer Terry time during his very with his life and under at the the wildlife and the of the Terry A. Vaughan a long and life and to the In to his and at he also the of Although are very well to well for all to Terry by his in the second and editions of for the to its in to and to the of the of the to and the future of wildlife are not under the and by high and limited and at with one work the of the with are to for on Terry and life and of with and C. Bateman and on of the Vaughan, and shared their of their efforts to of his life and was by of the at and who provided his on the history of the at efforts in the as and are are to and for their of an version of this which to of Vaughan A study of the mammals of the San Gabriel M.S. Claremont p. Vaughan of hoary Journal of Mammalogy Vaughan of the hoary bat in Journal of Mammalogy Vaughan by the Vaughan of the San Gabriel Mountains of University of Kansas Museum of Natural History Vaughan A of bat from California and Arizona. University of Kansas Museum of Natural History Vaughan of mammals from of the Kansas of Vaughan on the of American bats Journal of Mammalogy Vaughan morphology of University of p. Vaughan morphology of University of Kansas Museum of Natural History Vaughan The bat in Journal of Mammalogy Vaughan and in Fort p. Vaughan in the Journal of Mammalogy Vaughan in Journal of Mammalogy Vaughan of the Journal of Mammalogy Vaughan in the in Journal of Mammalogy Vaughan by two of American Vaughan of the in Journal of Mammalogy Vaughan on two of American Vaughan Fort p. Vaughan and flight characteristics of Journal of Mammalogy Vaughan and in the Journal of Mammalogy Vaughan A Journal of Mammalogy Vaughan of Vaughan of the on American Vaughan and in a mammal in A Museum of Natural University of p. Vaughan Bateman morphology of the of Journal of Mammalogy Vaughan and of bats, p. Vaughan The of bats, p. Vaughan The of bats, p. Vaughan The in Journal of Mammalogy Vaughan for flight in a Methodist University p. Bateman Vaughan and of some U.S. Biological p. Vaughan Mammalogy. p. Vaughan in some Journal of Mammalogy Bateman Vaughan of Journal of Mammalogy Vaughan of the Journal of Mammalogy Vaughan of the Journal of Mammalogy Vaughan of the bat Journal of Mammalogy Vaughan of the bat Journal Vaughan and seasonal of the Journal of Mammalogy Vaughan Mammalogy p. Vaughan and of the in the by of Vaughan of in the of in a Journal of Mammalogy Vaughan of an Journal of Mammalogy Vaughan Bateman The some for of the p. Vaughan observations on an bat Vaughan by two of Journal of Mammalogy Vaughan and of in of Museum of Northern Arizona, p. Vaughan of for p. Vaughan a Journal of Mammalogy Vaughan in the of Journal of Mammalogy Vaughan Vaughan and the of the Journal of Mammalogy Vaughan Mammalogy College p. Vaughan Vaughan in the bat Journal of Mammalogy Vaughan of by Journal of the of Vaughan in the Journal of Mammalogy Vaughan a Journal of Mammalogy Vaughan on in Vaughan of the years of and P. The University of Arizona, p. Vaughan The A. p. Vaughan in a Dr. The p. Vaughan in bats from central and Vaughan Mammalogy p. Vaughan Mammalogy p. Vaughan Mammalogy p.

Fetched live from OpenAlex and de-inverted. Abstracts are not stored in this database: the inverted indexes are 8.6 GB of the frame’s 9.3 GB of text, and the host has 13 GB free.