C hart merriam biography

American zoologist and ornithologist

Clinton Hart Merriam (December 5, 1855 – March 19, 1942) was an American zoologist, mammalogist, ornithologist, entomologist, ecologist, ethnographer, geographer, naturalist and physician.

He was commonly known as the "father of mammalogy," a branch of zoology referring to the study of mammals.

Early life

Clinton Hart Merriam was born in New York City in 1855 to Clinton Levi Merriam, a U.S. congressman, and Caroline Hart, a judge's daughter and a graduate of Rutgers Institute.^[1] The name Clinton, shared by both father and son, was in honor of New York governor DeWitt Clinton, whom the Merriam family had connections with.^[1] To avoid confusion, the younger Merriam went by his first initial combined with his middle name, his mother's maiden name, and thus often appears as C.

Hart Merriam in both the literature of his time and thereafter.^[2]

Although born in New York City, where his par