Some Biogeographers, Evolutionists and Ecologists:
Chrono-Biographical Sketches

Wood, Albert Elmer (United States 1910-2002)
vertebrate paleontology

Albert Wood was an internationally known vertebrate paleontologist who specialized in the taxonomy and evolution of rodents. His 1950 paper "Porcupines, Paleogeography, and Parallelism" is a classic discussion of the evolution and historical biogeography of the hystricomorph rodents, and well illustrates why many workers were unwilling to recognize the likelihood of continental drift before the 1960s.

--born in Cape May Court House, New Jersey, on 22 September 1910.
--1928, 1931-1932, 1935: takes part in paleontological expeditions in the western U. S.
--1930: B.S., Princeton University
--1932: M.A. in zoology, Columbia University
--1935: Ph.D. in geology, Columbia University
--1935: publishes "Evolution and Relationship of the Heteromyid Rodents with New Forms from the Tertiary of Western North America" in the Annals of the Carnegie Museum
--1935-1936: postdoctoral research at museums in Europe and the U. S.
--1936-1941: works as geologist for the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers
--1941-1946: serves in the military (U. S. Army); wins bronze star and purple heart
--1946-1948: assistant professor, biology department, Amherst College
--1948-1954: associate professor, biology department, Amherst College
--1954-1970: professor, biology department, Amherst College
--1955: publishes "A Revised Classification of the Rodents" in the Journal of Mammalogy
--1962-1966: chairman, biology department, Amherst College
--1960-1961: president, Society of Vertebrate Paleontology
--1967-1968: president, Williston Academy, Easthampton, MA
--1970: retires from Amherst College and from the Army Reserves
--1972: visiting professor, University of California Berkeley
--1980: publishes his The Oligocene Rodents of North America
--1998: receives the Romer-Simpson medal from the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology
--dies at Cape May Court House, New Jersey, on 11 November 2002.