Richard Lydekker

Richard Lydekker ( born July 25, 1849 in London, † April 16, 1915 in Harpenden ) was an English naturalist, geologist and palaeontologist.

In 1874, he worked for the Geological Survey of India and wrote studies on fossil vertebrates of the North of India, especially from Kashmir. In 1882 he returned to England and was employed in the British Museum in the Department of Geology and Zoology. From 1887 to 1913 he was responsible for the vertebrates in this museum. He cataloged fossil vertebrates from 1885 to 1887 and published this catalog in five volumes. Another four-volume catalog authored by fossil reptiles and amphibians, and he published in the meantime 1888 and 1890. 1891 was followed by a catalog on fossil birds and An Introduction to the Study of Mammals Living and Extinct, together with William Henry Flower ( 1831-1899 ). In 1893, he traveled to Argentina to explore the local fossil mammals. A year later he became a member of the Royal Society and from 1898 to 1900 he was the Council of the Zoological Society of London. He died in 1915 in Harpenden. 1916 his three-volume work Wildlife of the World was published posthumously.

After Richard Lydekker the Lydekker line is named. It runs along the continental Schelfes of Sahul and marks the boundary between the Australian and Wallacea biogeographical region.

Works (selection)

• A geographical history of mammals. Cambridge 1896 doi: 10.5962/bhl.title.31155
• Wild oxen, sheep & goats of all lands, living and extinct. London 1898 doi: 10.5962/bhl.title.8851
• The geographical distribution and geological evolution of mammals. 2nd edition, Jena 1901 doi: 10.5962/bhl.title.15820
• The game animals of India, Burma, Malaya, and Tibet. London 1907 doi: 10.5962/bhl.title.16137
• The game animals of Africa. London 1908 doi: 10.5962/bhl.title.21674 doi: 10.5962/bhl.title.15320
• Animal portraiture. London 1912 doi: 10.5962/bhl.title.60811