1 | Name: | Dr. Peter Marler | |
Institution: | University of California, Davis | ||
Year Elected: | 1983 | ||
Class: | 2. Biological Sciences | ||
Subdivision: | 210. Behavioral Biology, Psychology, Ethology, and Animal Behavior | ||
Residency: | Resident | ||
Living? : | Deceased | ||
Birth Date: | 1928 | ||
Death Date: | July 5, 2014 | ||
Peter R. Marler was Professor Emeritus of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior at the University of California, Davis as well as Professor Emeritus at Rockefeller University at the time of his death on July 5, 2014, at age 86, in Winters, California. An expert on neuroethology and animal communication, Dr. Marler had long studied the behavior of animals, specifically the development of vocal communication in birds and primates. Beginning his work with uniquely detailed and revealing studies of bird song, principally the interaction of genetic influences with learning during a bird's lifetime, he went on to show in detail how song development is controlled by brain mechanisms and hormones. Dr. Marler also investigated vocal communication in the Great Apes and had critically studied the interaction of heredity and environmental influences in human language. His many publications include (with J.W.J. Hamilton) Mechanisms of Animal Behavior (1966) and (with J. Vandenbergh) Social Behavior and Communication (1979). Dr. Marler received a Ph.D. in botany from University College London (1952) and another Ph.D. in zoology from the University of Cambridge (1954). He was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society in 1983. |