David William Steadman is a paleontologist and ornithologist, and Curator Emeritus of ornithology at the Florida Museum of Natural History at the University of Florida.[1][2]

His research has concentrated on the evolution, biogeography, conservation, and extinction of tropical birds, particularly in the islands of the Pacific Ocean.[3] He has also authored over 180 scientific publications.[4] Steadman trained at the University of Arizona as a student of Paul S. Martin, supported by a Predoctoral Fellowship from the Smithsonian Institution.[5] He has conducted a number of digs at prehistoric sites and uncovered widescale extinctions caused by humans in the early stages of colonisation. He has conducted several expeditions to the Galápagos Islands, and has described a number of extinct species of birds and more recently was involved in discovering that the Solomon Islands frogmouth is a species (instead of a subspecies of the marbled frogmouth, as formerly believed). He worked extensively on Easter Island, carrying out the first systematic excavations of the island in order to identify the plants and animals that once lived there.[6]

Education

References

  1. ^ Steadman D, (2006). Extinction and Biogeography in Tropical Pacific Birds, University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-77142-7
  2. ^ "Staff". Ornithology Collection Staff. Florida Museum. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
  3. ^ Line, L (1995) " Gone the way of the dinosaurs - biologist David Steadman unearths bones of extinct flightless birds in Tonga" International Wildlife. Accessed 1 March 2008
  4. ^ Florida Museum of Natural History Staff Spotlight "http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/directory/cvs/steadman_cv.htm" Accessed 25 March 2008
  5. ^ Mead, JI; Roth, EL; Van Devender, TR; Steadman, JW (1984). "The late Wisconsinan vertebrate fauna from Deadman Cave, southern Arizona USA". Transactions of the San Diego Society of Natural History. 20 (14): 247–276. doi:10.5962/bhl.part.29007. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
  6. ^ University of Florida News (2007) "UF scientists discover new genus of frogmouth bird in Solomon Islands Archived 2008-07-20 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 1 March 2008


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