Famous British Zoologists

James Robertson Justice was a British actor best remembered for playing pompous authority figures in comedy films. He achieved popularity after playing Sir Lancelot Spratt in each of the seven movies in the Doctor film series.

Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild was a British soldier, politician, zoologist, and banker. He is best remembered for his service as the president of the largest Jewish communal organization in the UK, the Board of Deputies of British Jews, between 1925 and 1926. Walter Rothschild also made immense contributions to the field of zoology.

Geneticist Anne McLaren is remembered for her pioneering research in embryology that paved the way for further research in fertility treatments such as in-vitro fertilization. The Royal Society fellow had also appeared as a child actor in the film adaptation of the H.G. Wells novel Things to Come.

Desmond Morris is an English ethologist, zoologist, author, and surrealist painter. He is well-known for his book The Naked Ape and for his TV shows, such as Zoo Time. Desmond Morris is also known for his work as the writer and presenter of the popular BBC documentary The Human Animal.

John Edward Gray was a British zoologist best remembered for his association with the British Museum in London, where he was the keeper of zoology from 1840 to 1874. John Edward Gray is also remembered for publishing several records of the museum collections that included descriptions of new species.

Peter Medawar was a Brazilian-British writer and biologist. His discovery of acquired immune tolerance and his works on graft rejection were foundational to the medical practice of organ and tissue transplants. Peter Medawar is often referred to as the father of transplantation for his scientific works. Peter Medawar is also remembered for his wit.

Jim Cronin was an American zookeeper best remembered for co-founding the Monkey World Ape Rescue Centre in Dorset, England, in 1987. The centre works as a sanctuary for neglected and abused primates. Jim Cronin was celebrated for his expertise in the rescue and rehabilitation process of abused primates.

British banker John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury, better known as Sir John Lubbock, had also been an MP. However, he is best known for his contribution to ethnography and archaeology. He is also credited with coining the terms Paleolithic and Neolithic, and is known for his books on animal behavior.

Charles Sutherland Elton was an English animal ecologist and zoologist. He is best remembered for his association with the development of community ecology and population, including studies of invasive organisms. Charles Sutherland Elton was the recipient of several prestigious honors and awards, such as the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement, the Linnean Medal, and the Darwin Medal.

G. Evelyn Hutchinson was a British ecologist best remembered for his contributions to the fields of systems ecology, limnology, entomology, radiation ecology, biogeochemistry, genetics, art history, philosophy, anthropology, religion, and a mathematical theory of population growth. G. Evelyn Hutchinson is sometimes referred to as the father of modern ecology.

Ray Lankester was a British zoologist and evolutionary biologist. Lankester held chairs at Oxford University and University College London. He is also remembered for his association with the Natural History Museum, where he served as the third director. Ray Lankester was honored with several prestigious awards, including the Copley Medal.

Lancelot Hogben was a British medical statistician and zoologist. He is best remembered for developing the African clawed frog as a model organism for his biological research. He is also remembered for his work as an author who produced books designed to popularize science and mathematics for the general public. Lancelot Hogben was the recipient of the prestigious Neill Prize.

Reginald Innes Pocock was a British zoologist who started his career at the Natural History Museum as an assistant. During his time at the museum, which lasted 18 years, Pocock developed an interest in ornithology. He also published 200 papers, which earned him recognition as an authority on Myriapoda and Arachnida. Pocock later became the superintendent of the London Zoo.

English botanist and naturalist Thomas Nuttal is best known for his popular volume The Genera of North American Plants. He later taught natural history at Harvard and also studied birds, eventually releasing a book on American birds, too. He also undertook a voyage to Columbia River and Hawaii.

Karl Shuker is a British cryptozoologist, zoologist, and author. He is currently working as a writer and zoological consultant in the Midlands, England. Shuker is best known for his contribution to magazines, such as Fortean Times, where he is a columnist. Karl Shuker is also associated with the Journal of Cryptozoology, where he is working as the editor-in-chief.

C. Lloyd Morgan was a British psychologist and ethologist. He is well-known for his famous theory of emergent evolution. C. Lloyd Morgan is also renowned for his experimental approach to animal psychology, which is now known as Morgan's Canon. Morgan's Canon or the principle or law of parsimony played a key role in the development of behaviourism.

Ecological geneticist B. Ford is remembered for his extensive research on natural selection. An Oxford professor, he had also penned books such as Mendelism and Evolution and Genetic Polymorphism. The Darwin Medal winner introduced the technique of marking animal specimens to determine their population. Single for life, he was considered eccentric.

William Henry Flower was an English museum curator, surgeon, and comparative anatomist. A leading authority on mammals during his time, Flower went on to serve as the director of London's Natural History Museum. Although he is best remembered for his work on the primate brain, William Henry Flower was also an expert on the Cetacea.

Gavin de Beer was an English evolutionary embryologist best remembered for his work on heterochrony. Over the course of his career, de Beer served as the president of the Linnean Society of London and as the director of London's Natural History Museum. Gavin de Beer is also known for his studies on evolution, which earned him the prestigious Darwin Medal.

V. C. Wynne-Edwards was an English zoologist best remembered for his espousal of group selection. He became part of the Royal Canadian Naval Reserve during the Second World War, before which he was working at McGill University. After the war, V. C. Wynne-Edwards became associated with the Aberdeen University, where he served as the Regius Professor in Natural History.

Brian Heap is an English biological scientist whose main research interest is in reproductive biology. His research into birth and lactation and the control of pregnancy led to significant contributions in farm animal breeding and endocrine physiology. Brian Heap has also worked for several prestigious institutions, such as the University of Cambridge and the University of Nottingham.

James Gray was a British zoologist best remembered for his work that helped found the field of cytology. He is also known for his work in the development of experimental zoology and animal locomotion. James Gray is also well-known for Gray's Paradox, which concerns dolphin locomotion.