Kraig Kerr Adler

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Kraig Kerr Adler
Born (1940-12-06) December 6, 1940 (age 84)
Lima, Ohio, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater Ohio Wesleyan University
University of Michigan
Known forResearch on amphibian behavior, taxonomy, and systematics
Founder and first Secretary-General of the World Congress of Herpetology
AwardsFounder’s Medal, Society for the History of Natural History (2018)
Scientific career
Fields Herpetology
Institutions Cornell University
University of Notre Dame
Thesis Environmental control of locomotor activity in a salamander (Plethodon glutinosus) (1968)
Doctoral advisor Charles F. Walker

Kraig Kerr Adler (born December 6, 1940) is an American herpetologist and academic. He is known for his work on amphibian behavior, evolution, and systematics, and for his leadership in international herpetological organizations.

Contents

Early life and education

Adler is the son of William Charles and Jennie Belle Adler (née Noonan). He earned his Bachelor of Science from Ohio Wesleyan University in 1962 and his Master of Science from the University of Michigan in 1965. In 1968, he received his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan with the dissertation Environmental control of locomotor activity in a salamander (Plethodon glutinosus), under the supervision of Charles F. Walker. He married Dolores Rose Pochocki in 1967, and they have one son.

Academic career

From 1968 to 1972, Adler was an assistant professor of biology at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. In 1972, he joined the Department of Biology at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, where he became associate professor and later full professor in 1980. [1] [2] [3] [4]

He chaired Cornell’s Department of Neurobiology and Behavior three times (1976–1979, 1991–1994, and 2008–2012) and served as the first associate administrative director of the Division of Biological Sciences from 1998 to 2005. [1] [2] [3] [4]

Adler has lectured at numerous universities and museums, including the Milwaukee Public Museum (1977), Miami University in Oxford, Ohio (1980), Rutgers University (1982), and the University of Michigan (1999). [1] [2] [3] [4]

Professional contributions

In 1958, while still a student, Adler co-founded the Ohio Herpetological Society with fellow herpetologist David M. Dennis. This organization later evolved into the Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles (SSAR) in 1967, now the world’s largest herpetological society with members in more than 60 countries. In 1982, during the SSAR’s 25th meeting, the World Congress of Herpetology (WCH) was established, and Adler was elected its first Secretary-General, a position he held until 1989. [1] [2] [3] [4]

Adler has published over 150 scientific papers and numerous books, including the Encyclopedia of Reptiles and Amphibians (with Tim Halliday) and Herpetology of China (with Zhao Ermi). His work has described fundamental aspects of amphibian behavior such as the use of magnetic, extraocular, and polarized light perception for navigation and kin recognition among tadpoles. [1] [2] [3] [4]

He has also written extensively on zooarchaeology, especially turtle remains, and on amphibian systematics. Adler initiated comparative studies on electrical orientation in salamanders and has researched the evolution and systematics of amphibians and reptiles, focusing on the herpetofauna of China and Central America. He edited the three-volume series Contributions to the History of Herpetology (1989, 2007, 2012), an encyclopedic work on the biographies of deceased herpetologists and an index of living ones. As editor of the SSAR’s Contributions to Herpetology series, Adler oversaw publication of the final four volumes of Carl Gans’s Biology of the Reptilia. [1] [2] [3] [4]

Taxa described

Adler has described numerous species of frogs, newts, and salamanders from genera including Liurana , Limnonectes , Nanorana , Quasipaa , Ingerana , Charadrahyla , Sarcohyla , Leptobrachella , Leptobrachium , Amolops , Odorrana , Rana , Theloderma , Hynobius , Pseudoeurycea , Plethodon , and Tylotriton .

Memberships

Adler served as president of the Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles in 1982. He is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, the Society for the Study of Evolution, the Animal Behavior Society, and Sigma Xi.

Eponyms and honors

Several species have been named in Adler’s honor, including:

In 2018, Adler received the Founder’s Medal from the Society for the History of Natural History for his contributions to the field.

Selected publications

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Marquis Who’s Who, Inc. (1984). Who’s Who in Frontier Science and Technology. 1st ed. Chicago: Marquis Who’s Who.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Michael L. Treglia (2008). "Kraig Adler: A Lifetime Promoting Herpetology". Iguana 15(4): 234–237.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Fabrizio Li Vigni (2013). A Life for Reptiles and Amphibians. Edition Chimaira. ISBN 978-3-89973-199-6.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Gale (2008). American Men & Women of Science: A Biographical Directory of Today’s Leaders in Physical, Biological, and Related Sciences.
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