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Malcolm Playfair Anderson
Malcolm Playfair Anderson
Born	April 6, 1879; Irvington, Indiana, US
Died	February 21, 1919 (aged 39); Oakland, California, US
Resting place	Chapel of the Chimes (Oakland, California)
Known for	Scientific collection
	Scientific career
Fields	Zoology

Malcolm Playfair Anderson (6 April 1879 – 21 February 1919) was an American zoologist and explorer. Anderson took part in several scientific expeditions and was chosen in 1904 to lead the Duke of Bedford's Exploration of Eastern Asia.

Early life

Anderson was born 6 April 1879 in Irvington, Indiana as the son of Melville Best Anderson and his wife Charlena (née van Vleck).^[1] Anderson was one of his parents' two children who survived to adulthood; the other was a younger brother, Robert van Vleck Anderson.^[2] From ages eleven to fifteen, Anderson attended school in Germany. Upon returning to the United States, Anderson attended Stanford University, graduating in 1904^[1] with a Bachelor of Arts in zoology.^[3]

At age 15, Anderson collected expeditions, befriending scientists and academics such as Ray Lyman Wilbur. Before completing his degree, he had already undertaken thousands of miles' worth of scientific expeditions, traversing Arizona, California, and Alaska.^[1]

Career

In 1904, Anderson was chosen by the Zoological Society of London to lead Duke of Bedford's Exploration of Eastern Asia. While his interest was mostly in the study of birds, his role in the expedition was to procure new mammal specimens.^[1] The Exploration began in July 1904 in Yokohama, Japan.^[4] From 1904 to 1907, Anderson traveled through Japan, eastern China, and Korea.

In 1908, he took a break from scientific collecting, traveling Europe with his mother Charlena.^[1] The second leg of the expedition began in Wuhan on 5 October 1909 and ended in Shanghai on 13 September 1910.^[5] The Bedford Exploration of Eastern Asia collected over 2,700 individual mammals, resulting in many newly-described species.^[6] Anderson collected the holotypes of several species, including the Shinto shrew and Japanese red-backed vole.^[1]

After completing the Exploration of Eastern Asia, Anderson took two collecting trips to South America. The first trip was with Wilfred Hudson Osgood, and the second was with his wife, Mary Elizabeth.^[1]

In 1911, British zoologist Oldfield Thomas wrote: "To our great loss and regret, Mr Anderson now proposes to give up the arduous life of the field collector."^[6]

Mr. Anderson has worked for the Exploration with superb enthusiasm and success, and in the extent to which his collections have revolutionized our knowledge of an extended part of the earth's surface he has made a record which, so far as I know, has never been equalled . . .
— Oldfield Thomas

Death

In response to the demands of World War I on American manufacturing, Anderson began working at a shipyard in 1918, as he was unable to join the Army. On 21 February 1919, Anderson died when he fell from the scaffolding at Moore's Shipyard in Oakland, California. Following his death, his father eulogized him in the scientific journal The Condor.^[1]

Personal life

Anderson married Mary Elizabeth Gurnee, a distant cousin,^[2] on 15 June 1913.^[7] They had one son, Malcolm Gurnee Anderson, who died in infancy.^[2]

Species named in his honor

Several species were named in honor of Anderson, including:

Japanese red-backed vole (Myodes andersoni)—Thomas, 1905
Anderson's shrew mole (Uropsilus andersoni)—Thomas, 1911
Anderson's white-bellied rat (Niviventer andersoni)—Thomas, 1911
Anderson's four-eyed opossum (Philander andersoni)—Osgood, 1913^[8]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Anderson, Melville B. (1919). "Malcolm Playfair Anderson" (PDF). The Condor. 21 (3): 115–119. doi:10.2307/1362461. JSTOR 1362461.
^ ^a ^b ^c The Board of Trustees of Stanford University (1999). Guide to the Anderson family Papers, 1848-1963 (PDF) (Report). Retrieved 3 September 2018.
^ "Bachelor of Arts". The Stanford Daily. Vol. 24, no. 87. 18 May 1904. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
^ Thomas, O. (1906). "The Duke of Bedford's zoological exploration in eastern Asia I. List of mammals obtained by Mr. MP Anderson in Japan". Proc. Zool. Soc. London. 1905: 331–363.
^ Troelstra, A. S. (2017). Bibliography of Natural History Travel Narratives. Brill. p. 240. ISBN 9789004343788.
^ ^a ^b Thomas, Oldfield (1909). "The Duke of Bedford's Zoological Exploration of Eastern Asia.-XV. On Mammals from the Provinces of Szechwan and Yunnah, Western China". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 82: 127–141. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.1912.tb07008.x.
^ Stanford University (1921). Alumni Directory and Ten-year Book, Volume 3. Vol. 3. p. 69.
^ Beolens, B.; Watkins, M.; Grayson, M. (2009). The eponym dictionary of mammals. JHU Press. p. 12. ISBN 9780801895333.