Education

Sc.D. Johns Hopkins University (1972)
M. S. Florida State University (1968)
B.A. Florida State University (1966)

Research Interests

Current research interests: fossil avifaunas and paleoenvironments of Hawaii, Bermuda, and the West Indies. Biogeography of the avifauna of the archipelago and lowlands of Bocas del Toro, Panama. Phylogeny and systematics of Hawaiian and various other birds, mainly Neotropical.

Selected Publications

Iwaniuk, A.N., Olson, S.L. and James, H.F. 2009. Extraordinary cranial specialization in a new genus of extinct duck (Aves: Anseriformes) from Kauai, Hawaiian Islands, Zootaxa, 2296:47-67

Olson, S.L. and Hume, J.P. 2009. Notes on early illustrations and the juvenile plumage of the extinct Hawaii Mamo Drepanis pacifica (Drepanidini), Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club, 129(4):206-212

Olson, S.L. 2009. A new diminutive species of shearwater of the genus Calonectris (Aves: Procellariidae) from the Middle Miocene Calvert Formation of Chesapeake Bay, Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, 122(4):466-470

Olson, S.L. 2009. Lectotype and type locality of Turdus trichas Linnaeus, 1766, (Aves: Parulidae: Geothlypis). , 122(4): 464-465, Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, 122(4):464-465

Suárez, W. and Olson, S.L. 2009. The generic position of Miraquila terrestris Campbell: another addition to the buteogalline radiation from the Pleistocene of Peru., Journal of Raptor Research, 43(3):249-253

Olson, S.L. and Reveal, J.L. 2009. Nomenclatural History and a New Name for the Blue-winged Warbler (Aves: Parulidae), Wilson Journal of Ornithology, 121(3):618-620

Olson, S.L. 2009. Additional Data on the Occurrence of the Plantaris Muscle in the Hawaiian Finches (Carduelinae: Drepanidini), Wilson Journal of Ornithology, 121(3):621-623

Wijnker, E. and Olson, S.L. 2009. A revision of the fossil genus Miocepphus and other Miocene Alcidae (Aves: Charadriiformes) of the western North Atlantic Ocean, Journal of Systematic Palaeontology, 7(4):471-487

Suárez, W. and Olson, S.L. 2009. A new genus for the Cuban teratorn (Aves: Teratornithidae), Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, 122(1):103-116

Olson, S.L. and Ricklefs, R.E. 2009. More on the origin of the Red-legged Thrush (Turdus plumbeus) of Dominica, West Indies, Auk, 126(2):449-454

Olson, S.L. and Hearty, P.J. 2009. A sustained +21 m sea-level highstand during MIS 11 (400 ka): direct fossil and sedimentary evidence from Bermuda, Quaternary Science Reviews, 28(3-4):271-285

Olson, S.L. and Meylan, P.A. 2009. A second specimen of the Pleistocene Bermuda tortoise Hesperotestudo bermudae Meylan and Sterrer, Chelonian Conservation and Biology, 8(2):211-212

Worthy, T.H., Olson, S.L. and Smith, T. 2008. A reassessment of the fossil goose Anser scaldii Lambrecht 1933 (Aves: Anatidae), Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club, 128(4):228-232

Hearty, P.J. and Olson, S.L. 2008. Mega-highstand or megatsunami? Discussion of McMurtry et al. (Elevated marine deposits in Bermuda record a late Quaternary megatsunami: Sed. Geol. 200 (2007) 155-165), Sedimentary Geology, 203(3-4):307-312

Suárez, W. and Olson, S.L. 2008. The Cuban fossil eagle Aquila borrasi Arredondo---A scaled-up version of the Great Black-Hawk Buteogallus urubitinga (Gmelin), Journal of Raptor Research, 41(4):288-298

Olson, S.L. and Suárez, W. 2008. Bare-throated Tiger-Heron (Tigrisoma mexicanum) from the Pleistocene of Cuba: a New Subfamily for the West Indies, Waterbirds, 31(2):285-288

Olson, S.L. 2008. Falsified Data Associated with Specimens of Birds, Mammals, and Insects from the Veragua Archipelago, Panama, Collected by J. H. Batty, American Museum Novitates, (3620):1-37

Olson, S.L. 2008. Lost Land of the Dodo, Science, 321(5891):913-914

Olson, S.L. and Maíz López, Edgar J. 2008. New evidence of Ara autochthones from an archeological site in Puerto Rico: a valid species of West Indian macaw of unknown geographical origin (Aves: Psittacidae), Caribbean Journal of Science, 44(2):215-222

Olson, S.L. 2008. Pireella cymbifolia (Pterobryaceae) new to the flora, with comments on sea level and other factors influencing the phytogeography of Bermuda, Journal of Bryology, 30(3):224-226

Olson, S.L. 2008. Bald Eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, preying on Maritime Garter Snake, Thamnophis sirtalis pallidulus, on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canadian Field-Naturalist, 120(4):477

Olson, S.L. and Suárez, W. 2008. A new generic name for the Cuban Bare-legged Owl Gymnoglaux lawrencii Sclater and Salvin, Zootaxa, 1960:67-68

Olson, S.L. 2008. [Review of] The Meinertzhagen Mystery: The Life and Legend of a Colossal Fraud. By Brian Garfield, Wilson Journal of Ornithology, 120(4):917-920

Olson, S.L. and Suárez, W. 2008. A fossil cranium of the Cuban Macaw Ara tricolor (Aves: Psittacidae) from Villa Clara Province, Cuba, Caribbean Journal of Science, 44(3):287-290

Olson, S.L. 2008. A new species of very large, terrestrial caracara from Holocene deposits in southern Jamaica (Aves: Falconidae), Journal of Raptor Research, 42(4):265-272

Fleischer, R.C., James, H.F. and Olson, S.L. 2008. Convergent evolution of Hawaiian and Australo-Pacific honeyeaters from distant songbird ancestors, Current Biology, 18:1927-1931

Olson, S.L. 2008. A new species of shearwater of the genus Calonectris (Aves: Procellariidae) from a middle Pleistocene deposit on Bermuda, Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, 121(3):398-409

Siegel, D.C. and Olson, S.L.2008. The Birds of the Republic of Panama. Part 5. Gazetteer and Bibliography. Buteo Books

Olson, S.L. 2008. A new genus and species of buteonine hawk from Quaternary deposits in Bermuda (Aves : Accipitridae), Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, 121(1):130-141

Olson, S.L. and Hearty, P.J. 2007. Fallacies underlying the assumption of calcium limitation on the evolution of land snails in Bermuda, Veliger, 49(3):132-139

Olson, S.L. 2007. M. A. Carriker Jr. and the use of arsenic in preparation of museum specimens of birds and mammals, Archives of Natural History, 34(2):346-351

Olson, S.L. and Lund, J.N. 2007. Whalers and woggins: a new vocabulary for interepreting some early accounts of the great auk and penguins, Archives of Natural History, 34(11):69-78

Olson, S.L., Overstreet, L. and Lund, J.N. 2007. An alca-bibliographical study of The English Pilot: the history of its account of the great auk (Alcidae: Pinguinus impennis), Archives of Natural History, 34(1):79-86

Olson, S.L. 2007. A Carriker trilogy: chapters in a saga of neotropical ornithology, Auk, 124(1):357-361

Olson, S.L. 2007. Alca antiqua (Marsh, 1870), an invalid combination for a fossil auk (Aves: Alcidae), Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club., 127(3):225

Olson, S.L. 2007. Field notes: Bufo fowleri (Fowler's Toad) [winter Assateague Island, Virginia], Catesbeiana, 27(1):40

Olson, S.L. and Banks, R.C. 2007. Lectotypification of Larus smithsonianus Coues, 1862 (Aves: Laridae), Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington,, 120(4):382-386

Olson, S.L. 2007. A new subspecies of Sporophila angolensis (Aves: Emberizidae) from Isla de Coiba and other additions to the avifauna of the Veragua Archipelago, Panamá, Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, 120(4):377-381

Olson, S.L. 2007. "The "walking eagle" Wetmoregyps daggetti Miller---a scaled-up version of the Savanna Hawk Buteogallus meridionalis". Pp. 110-114 in Festschrift for Ned K. Johnson: geographic variation and evolution in birds (Cicero, C. and Remsen, J.V.,Jr.).

Smith, N.A., Olson, S.L. and Clarke, J.A. 2007. First Atlantic record of the horned puffin genus Cerorhinca (Aves, Alcidae) from the Pliocene of North Carolina, Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 27(4):1039-1042

Ishtiaq, F., Gering, E., Rappole, J.H., Rahmani, A.R., Jhala, Y., Dove, C.J., Milensky, C.M., Olson, S.L., Peirce, M.A. and Fleischer, R.C. 2007. Prevalence and diversity of avian haematozoan parasites in Asia: A regional survey, Journal of Wildlife Diseases, 43(3):382-398

Durrant, K.L., Beadell, J.S., Ishtiaq, F., Graves, G.R., Olson, S.L., Gering, E., Peirce, M.A., Milensky, C.M., Schmidt, B.K., Gebhard, C. and Fleischer, R.C. 2006. Avian haematozoa in South America: a comparison of temperate and tropical zones, Ornithological Monographs, 60:98-111

Olson, S.L. and Wingate, D.B. 2006. A new species of night-heron (Ardeidae: Nyctanassa) from Quaternary deposits on Bermuda, Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, 119(2):326-337

Woolfenden, G.E. and Olson, S.L. 2006. A specimen of migrant Clapper Rail from the interior of southern Florida, Florida Field Naturalist, 34(2):52-53

Olson, S.L. 2006. Possible etymology of the generic name Magumma for the Anianiau (Drepanidini), Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club, 126(4):323-324

Olson, S.L. 2006. Extinction on islands through natural, non-human causes. 126A: 59, Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club, 125A:59

Olson, S.L. 2006. Relections on the systematics of Accipiter and the genus for Falco superciliaris Linnaeus, Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club, 126(1):69-70

Olson, S.L. 2006. Birds, including extinct species, encountered by the Malaspina Expedition on Vava'u, Tonga, in 1793, Archives of Natural History, 33(1):42-52

Grady, F.V. and Olson, S.L. 2006. Fossil bats from Quaternary deposits on Bermuda (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae), Journal of Mammalogy, 87(1):148-152

Olson, S.L., Hearty, P.J. and Pregill, G.K. 2006. Geological Constraints on Evolution and Survival in Endemic Reptiles on Bermuda, Journal of Herpetology, 40(3):394-398

Olson, S.L. 2006. Fossil evidence of the Rufous Crab-Hawk (Buteogallus aequinoctialis) in Jamaica, Journal of Raptor Research, 40(4):284-287

Olson, S.L. and Alvarenga, M.F. 2006. An extraordinary feeding assemblage of birds at a termite swarm in the Serra da Mantiqueira, Sao Paulo, Brazil, Revista Brasileira de Ornitologia, 14(3):297-299

James, H.F. and Olson, S.L. 2006. A new species of Hawaiian finch (Drepanidini: Loxioides) from Makawauhi Cave, island of Kaua`i, The Auk, 123(2):335-344, with cover art

Complete List of Olson's Publications and Downloadable PDFs