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Hildegarde Howard

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Hildegarde Howard
Hildegarde Howard, ca. 1936 (Condor 38: 128)
Born(1901-04-03)April 3, 1901
Washington, D.C.
DiedFebruary 28, 1998(1998-02-28) (aged 96)
Laguna Hills, California
Alma materU.C. Berkeley
Known forSignificant contributions to the field of paleornithology
AwardsBrewster Medal
Scientific career
FieldsPaleornithology
InstitutionsLos Angeles County Museum of Natural History
Doctoral advisorsJoseph Grinnell
Other academic advisorsWilliam Diller Matthew, Loye H. Miller

Hildegarde Howard (April 3, 1901 – February 28, 1998) was an American pioneer in paleornithology, mentored by the famous ornithologist, Joseph Grinnell, at the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology (MVZ) and in avian paleontology.[1] She was well known for her discoveries in the La Brea Tar Pits, among them the Rancho La Brea eagles. She also discovered and described Pleistocene flightless waterfowl at the prehistoric Ballona wetlands of coastal Los Angeles County at Playa del Rey. In 1953, Howard became the first woman to be awarded the Brewster Medal. She was also the first woman president of the Southern California Academy of Sciences.[2] Hildegarde, throughout her career wrote 150 papers. [3]

Biography

Howard was born in Washington, D.C., and moved with her parents to Los Angeles in 1906; her father was a scriptwriter and her mother a musician and composer.[4] In 1920 Howard commenced her studies at the Southern Branch of the University of California (later renamed UCLA).[4] Her first biology teacher, Pirie Davidson, inspired her to change her concentration from journalism to biology; Davidson helped her get a job working for the paleontologist Chester Stock.[4] She completed her bachelor's degree at U.C. Berkeley, in 1924,[3] where she took courses in paleontology.[4] That same year, Howard joined the scientific staff of the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History part-time; her work there on the extinct turkey Parapavo californicus was credited towards her master's degree which was received in 1926[3] at Berkeley, where she would also earn the Ph.D. in 1928, with a dissertation on the fossil birds of the Emery Shellmound.[5] In 1929, Howard returned to the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History. Named chief curator of science in 1951, she retired in 1961, but continued to conduct research and to publish on avian evolution. While at the museum and in retirement, Howard described 3 families, 13 genera, 57 species, and 2 subspecies.[3]

Howard married Henry Anson Wylde in 1930. Wylde, who would become chief of exhibits at the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, died in 1984.[4]

Significant works

Howard published some 150 scientific papers over the course of her career.[3]

New Avian Fossil

Howard was allowed to research a coracoid bone (between the shoulder blade and sternum) discovered for a species of avian (bird) not yet known by the public record,[6] she concluded through previous evidence and modern avians that the bird was a newly discovered species of a water bird,[6] by the shape of the shoulder and chest bone.[6]

Review of Extinct Avian Genus

Howard conducted an experiment in which she took wasps from their home ecosystem and brought them to a greenhouse to see how they would take to the conditions of isolation and whether or not they would nest in that environment.[7] After corrections to the methodology of the experiment, she was able to collect 41 nests to study the structure of their nesting.[7]

The Avifauna of Emeryville Shellmound

Howard’s 1929 dissertation, “The Avifauna of Emeryville Shellmound” was particularly influential at the time. The dissertation she wrote thoroughly labelled ornithological fossil specimens, and paired the terms with visual representations.[3] This allowed common terminology to be taught and widely popularized her work in the field.[3] Her diagrams were eventually phased out after Nomina Anatomica Avium was published in 1997.[3] The Avifauna of Emeryville shellmound was important because it set the grounds of vocabulary for avian paleontology.[8] Howard detailed, named and labelled a baseline for the skeletal makeup of all birds.[8] This work solidified her significance in the world of paleontology and continues to stay a point of agreement for paleontologists of all levels.[8] The names used are still widely referenced and give a strong baseline when labelling unknown species.[8]

A Census of the Pleistocene Birds

Howarde goes into detail, comparing two studies regarding the Pleistocene animals of the Rancho La Brea region.[9] One of them is a census conducted by Dr. Chester Stock regarding mammals of the region while the other was a census of the birds.[9] This entry seeks the common factors, if any, between the two groups.  She finds that there is a limitation on the age of the animals from the Rancho La Brea exhibit. This effect Is only manifested in the specimens that came from the early to the middle part of the late Pleistocene era.[9]

  • Howard, Hildegarde (1929), "The avifauna of Emeryville shellmound", University of California Publications in Zoology, 32 (2): 301–394
  • Howard described the first "toothed" bird from North America and assigned the name "Osteodontornis" to it.[10]
  • Howard, Hildegarde (1962), "Fossil Birds", Science Series, 17: 44
  • Howard, Hildegarde (1969), "A New Avian Fossil from Kern County, California", The Condor, 71 (1): 68–69, doi:10.2307/1366050, JSTOR 1366050
  • Howard, Hildegarde (1970), "A review of the extinct avian genus, Mancalla", Contributions in Science, 203: 1–12, doi:10.5962/p.241190, S2CID 89964688

Awards

References

  1. ^ Joyce Harvey & Marilyn Ogilvie (2000), The Biographical Dictionary of Women in Science, Volume 1, pp.621 et seq
  2. ^ a b c d Oliver, Myrna (March 4, 1998). "Hildegarde Howard; Avian Paleontologist, Curator". Los Angeles Times.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Campbell, Kenneth E. Jr. (2000). "In Memoriam: Hildegarde Howard, 1901–1998". The Auk. 117 (3): 775–779. doi:10.1642/0004-8038(2000)117[0775:IMHH]2.0.CO;2. JSTOR 4089601. S2CID 84869756.
  4. ^ a b c d e Frank Perry, "Hildegarde Howard" Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine, Monterey Bay Paleontological Society (last visited April 13, 2013).
  5. ^ "Hildegarde Howard" (obituary), Toledo Blade, March 6, 1998.
  6. ^ a b c Howard, Hildegarde (January 1969). "A New Avian Fossil from Kern County, California". The Condor. 71 (1): 68–69. doi:10.2307/1366050. ISSN 1938-5129.
  7. ^ a b Howard, Hildegarde (1970-11-24). "A review of the extinct avian genus, Mancalla". Contributions in science. 203: 1–12. doi:10.5962/p.241190. ISSN 0459-8113.
  8. ^ a b c d "Illustrations of avian osteology taken from "The avifauna of Emeryville Shellmound"". Contributions in science. 330: xxvii–xxxviii. 1980-09-15. doi:10.5962/p.324538. ISSN 0459-8113.
  9. ^ a b c Howard, Hildegarde (March 1930). "A Census of the Pleistocene Birds of Rancho La Brea from the Collections of the Los Angeles Museum". The Condor. 32 (2): 81–88. doi:10.2307/1363526. ISSN 1938-5129.
  10. ^ Perry, Frank. "Hildegarde Howard". Calcentral.com. Archived from the original on 7 January 2009.[better source needed]
  11. ^ Hildegarde Howard Archived 2012-06-14 at the Wayback Machine, John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation (last visited April 13, 2013).
  12. ^ "Honorary Members" Archived 2013-05-09 at the Wayback Machine, Cooper Ornithological Society (last visited April 13, 2013).

Further research

  • Joy Harvey & Marilyn Ogilvie (2000), The Biographical Dictionary of Women in Science, Volume 1, pp. 621 et seq
  • Campbell, Kenneth E. Jr., editor. 1980. "Papers in Avian Paleontology Honoring Hildegarde Howard", Contributions in Science: Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, No. 330 (Sept. 15 1970), 296 p. (Includes biographical sketches and a bibliography of her works.)
  • Campbell, Kenneth E. Jr. (2000). "In Memoriam: Hildegarde Howard, 1901–1998". The Auk. 117 (3): 775–779. doi:10.2307/4089601. JSTOR 4089601.
  • Campbell, Kenneth E. Jr. (2000). "Hildegarde Howard". Society of Vertebrate Paleontology News Bulletin. 178: 131–133.
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