More Remembrances Of Ken Miyata

Ken Miyata’s handiwork on display outside David Wake’s office

Recently, a chapter of Ken Miyata’s thesis on the ecology of Ecuadorian anoles was published in the Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, along with remembrances of Ken–who died 30 years ago–by Jerry Coyne, Chuck Crumly, Ray Huey, Eric Larson, Greg Mayer, and B Wu.

David Wake knew Ken Miyata, too, and here’s what he had to say: “Ken did an undergraduate honor’s thesis with me in MVZ. He was far ahead of his time — we had no digital database but he wanted to do detailed mapping of some species so he selected Batrachoseps attenuatus and then laboriously went through the large MVZ collection. He made a pin for each locality and on the pin recorded the MVZ catalogue number (or first in a series in the case of multiple specimens). Then he researched the exact locality, often going to field notes. The result is still on the wall outside my office! From time to time someone suggests taking it down, but it has now gained the status of historical document! And it is a constant reminder to me of Ken and his enthusiasms and diligence.”

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Jonathan Losos

Professor of Biology and Director of the Living Earth Collaborative at Washington University in Saint Louis. I've spent my entire professional career studying anoles and have discovered that the more I learn about anoles, the more I realize I don't know.

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