James L. Patton papers
Finding aid created by Museum of Vertebrate Zoology staff using RecordEXPRESS
UC Berkeley. Museum of Vertebrate Zoology
2024
3101 Valley Life Sciences Bldg, #3160
University of California Berkeley
Berkeley, California 94720-3160
(510) 642-3567
mvzarchives@berkeley.EDU
http://mvz.berkeley.edu/
Title: James L. Patton papers
Dates: 1966-2011
Collection Number: MVZA.MSS.0351
Creator/Collector:
Patton, James L.
Extent: 1 cubic foot
Repository:
UC Berkeley. Museum of Vertebrate Zoology
Berkeley, California 94720-3160
Abstract: The James L. Patton papers currently consist of 35mm slides from the years 1966-1999 as well as thumbnail albums and digital
copies accompanying the slides. These slides contain the photographs from field work done in North America, Mexico, Venezuela,
Vietnam, Argentina, Peru, Brazil, Iran, and the Galapagos. James L. Patton is an active researcher at the Museum of Vertebrate
Zoology and continues to do fieldwork, publish, and grow his collection.
Language of Material: English
The collection is open for research.
Copyright restrictions may apply. All requests to publish, quote, or reproduce must be submitted to the Museum of Vertebrate
Zoology Archives in writing for approval. Please contact the Museum Archivist for further information.
[Identification of item]. James L. Patton papers. Collection Number: MVZA.MSS.0351. UC Berkeley. Museum of Vertebrate Zoology
Biography/Administrative History
James Lloyd Patton (born in 1941 in St. Louis, Missouri) is an active evolutionary biologist and prominent mammalogist whose
work has spanned six decades and 15 countries. He is an emeritus curator of mammals at the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology and
emeritus professor of Integrative Biology at U. C. Berkeley. He has worked at the MVZ and U. C. Berkeley since 1969 when he
left the University of Arizona (where he earned his B.A., M.S., and PhD). Dr. Patton is considered one of the most prolific
collectors of mammals in the MVZ’s history and has made immense and pioneering contributions in the fields of evolutionary
cytogenetics and systematics of rodents, especially pocket mice (Perognathus/Chaetodipus) and pocket gophers (Thomomys), the
diversification of rainforest faunas, and the impact of climate change on North American mammals. Dr. Patton even has an entire
genus of rodents named after him, Pattonomys. He is the author of nearly 200 scientific publications, and has mentored and
collaborated with nearly 50 graduate students and post-doctoral scholars over his lengthy career.
Throughout his career, Dr. Patton has collected extensively in the western United States and in 14 other countries around
the world, including Mexico, Ecuador (Galapagos Islands), Peru, Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Taiwan, Vietnam, Iran,
and Cameroon (often with his wife Carol Porter Patton). His work largely focused on the Western United States until the 1990s
when he began focusing on South American mammalogy. Amazingly, he has also been shipwrecked 5 times while out in the field!
Among numerous other honors, Dr. Patton was the recipient of the C. Hart Merriam Award for Distinguished Research in Mammalogy
(1983) and the Joseph Grinnell Award for Excellence in Education in Mammalogy (1998), both from the American Society of Mammalogists.
His colleagues and students have referred to Dr. Patton as “the heart of the [MVZ],” a “curator’s curator” and the “trifecta
of research, teaching, and curating,” which aptly sums up his ongoing legacy.
Sources:
Lacey, Eileen A. and Phil Myers (eds.). 2005. Mammalian diversification: from chromosomes to phylogeography (a celebration
of the career of James L. Patton), University of California Publications in Zoology, vol. 133. University of California Press,
Berkeley.
Scope and Content of Collection
The James L. Patton papers currently consist of 24 small boxes of 35mm slides from the years 1966-1999 as well as two thumbnail
albums, miscellaneous papers, and two volumes containing multiple DVDs with the digital copies of the 35mm slides. These slides
contain the photographs from field work done in North America, Mexico, Venezuela, Vietnam, Argentina, Peru, Brazil, Iran,
and the Galapagos and are organized by locality. James L. Patton is an active researcher at the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology
and continues to do fieldwork, publish, and grow his collection.
Biological specimens--Identification
Mammalogy--Fieldwork.
Biology--Fieldwork
Mammals--South America
Biological specimens--Collection and preservation.
Scientific expeditions--South America.
Scientific expeditions--West (U.S.)
Pocket gophers
Scientific expeditions--Mexico
University of California (1868-1952). Museum of Vertebrate Zoology
35mm