Philip J. Darlington

Philip Jackson Darlington Jr. (November 14, 1904 – December 16, 1983) was an American entomologist, field naturalist, biogeographer, museum curator and zoology professor, known for his toughness and determination on field expeditions.

Biography Darlington graduated in 1922 from secondary school at Phillips Exeter Academy and then attended Harvard University, where he graduated with bachelor's degree in 1926 and M.S. in 1927. In the 1920s he went on several field expeditions to the West Indies. From 1928 to 1929 he worked as an entomologist for the United Fruit Company near Santa Marta, Colombia. He returned to graduate study at Harvard University with an extensive collection of insects and vertebrates, including a diversity of bird skins, which formed the basis for a 1931 article. He received in 1931 his Ph.D. from Harvard University with a thesis on the Carabidae (ground beetles) of New Hampshire.

Darlington was a key member of the six-man Harvard Australian Expedition (1931-1932) sent on behalf of the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ) for the dual purpose of procuring specimens - the museum being "weak in Australian animals and ... desires[ing] to complete its series" - and to engage in "the study of the animals of the region when alive." His companion William E. Schevill reported that "Dr. Darlington's resourceful skill and industry had brought together, from New South Wales and Queensland, not only a large collection of insects, but also over three hundred fifty mammals, representing over sixty species, as well about fifty species of birds; in addition, he had about two hundred fifty reptiles and amphibians." from 1940 to 1951 the Henry Clinton Fall Curator of Coleoptera, and from 1951 until his retirement in 1971 the Curator of Insects. He was also at Harvard University from 1962 until his retirement in 1971 the Alexander Agassiz Professor of Zoology. 1956 — Guggenheim Fellowship for the academic year 1956–1957 1964 — elected a Member of the United States National Academy of Sciences

Legacy Darlington is commemorated in the scientific names of four species of lizards: Anolis darlingtoni, Celestus darlingtoni, Sphaerodactylus darlingtoni and Sphenomorphus darlingtoni.