Donald W. Tinkle
Encyclopedia
Donald Ward Tinkle was a prominent herpetologist
, ecologist
, and evolutionary biologist at the University of Michigan
until his illness and death at age 50. He is best known for his intensive demographic studies of lizards, which involved full censuses of local populations repeated over several years to obtain life table
parameters such as age at maturity, survivorship, and reproductive effort. He was a pioneer in developing life history theory along with key students including Henry Wilbur, Michael Hirshfield, and Arthur Dunham, and he was an important collaborator with Dr. Richard D. Alexander
in the application of individual selection theory and sociobiological
ideas to varied organisms including humans.
Tinkle was a student of the renowned herpetologist Fred Cagle, receiving a PhD at Tulane University
after conducting studies of freshwater turtles in the southeastern United States with future herpetologist and author J. Whitfield Gibbons
as his undergraduate assistant. Before becoming director of the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, he held a one-year Maytag Chair at Arizona State University
in 1972 where he influenced the careers of several young herpetologists, including Laurie J. Vitt and Justin D. Congdon. After his return to the Michigan campus at Ann Arbor, he initiated a project in 1974 at the University's Edwin S. George Reserve that became the longest running and most intensive study ever conducted on the ecology of freshwater turtles. That study continued until 2008 under the direction of Justin D. Congdon.
Herpetology
Herpetology is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians and reptiles...
, ecologist
Ecology
Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...
, and evolutionary biologist at the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
until his illness and death at age 50. He is best known for his intensive demographic studies of lizards, which involved full censuses of local populations repeated over several years to obtain life table
Life table
In actuarial science, a life table is a table which shows, for each age, what the probability is that a person of that age will die before his or her next birthday...
parameters such as age at maturity, survivorship, and reproductive effort. He was a pioneer in developing life history theory along with key students including Henry Wilbur, Michael Hirshfield, and Arthur Dunham, and he was an important collaborator with Dr. Richard D. Alexander
Richard D. Alexander
Richard D. Alexander is an Emeritus Professor and Emeritus Curator of Insects at the Museum of Zoology of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. Prof...
in the application of individual selection theory and sociobiological
Sociobiology
Sociobiology is a field of scientific study which is based on the assumption that social behavior has resulted from evolution and attempts to explain and examine social behavior within that context. Often considered a branch of biology and sociology, it also draws from ethology, anthropology,...
ideas to varied organisms including humans.
Tinkle was a student of the renowned herpetologist Fred Cagle, receiving a PhD at Tulane University
Tulane University
Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...
after conducting studies of freshwater turtles in the southeastern United States with future herpetologist and author J. Whitfield Gibbons
J. Whitfield Gibbons
J. Whitfield "Whit" Gibbons is an American herpetologist, author, and educator. He is Professor Emeritus of Ecology, University of Georgia, and Head of the Environmental Outreach and Education program at the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory .-Life and work:Gibbons was born in Montgomery, Alabama....
as his undergraduate assistant. Before becoming director of the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, he held a one-year Maytag Chair at Arizona State University
Arizona State University
Arizona State University is a public research university located in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area of the State of Arizona...
in 1972 where he influenced the careers of several young herpetologists, including Laurie J. Vitt and Justin D. Congdon. After his return to the Michigan campus at Ann Arbor, he initiated a project in 1974 at the University's Edwin S. George Reserve that became the longest running and most intensive study ever conducted on the ecology of freshwater turtles. That study continued until 2008 under the direction of Justin D. Congdon.