Education

Ph.D. (Biology): Harvard University, 1964
M.A. (Biology): Harvard University, 1963
B.A. (Biology): Princeton University, 1959

Research Interests

Katie Ferrell and I recently published a book titled Squirrels: The Animal Answer Guide. In June 2006, Erica Santana and I presented a symposium paper, now submitted, on "How to make a flying squirrel: Glaucomys anatomy from a phylogenetic perspective." Nick Rasmussen and I are now completing a manuscript based on his summer research during an RTP fellowship in 2006: "A study of three Southeast Asian flying squirrels of the genus Hylopetes."

Manuscripts in progress include a study of the geographic variation in cranial morphology and coat color of the giant tree squirrel, Ratufa bicolor, with Katie Ferrell, and a study of the aerodynamics of flying squirrels, with Brian Stafford, based on our wind tunnel studies at the University of Maryland. Work in progress includes a phylogenetic study on" The Enigmatic Little Brown Squirrels of Sundaland (Sundasciurus)." with Jesus Maldonado, Jennifer Leonard, and Katie Ferrell, utilizing molecular and morphological features; an examination of cranial and coat color variation in the tricolor squirrel Callosciurus prevostii of Southeast Asia, with Adrienne Sussman. I still intend to complete a study on the hindlimb anatomy of squirrels, which I started with Dian Pitassy and Jeff Chu. Several other projects are in early formative stages, including a book on suburban natural history, tentatively titled "Naturalist in a wheelchair."

Recent Publications

Thorington, R. W., Jr. and K. E. Ferrell. 2006. Squirrels: The Animal Answer Guide. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore. 183 pp.

Cardini, A. and R. W. Thorington, Jr. 2006. Postnatal ontogeny of marmot (Rodentia, Sciuridae) crania: allometric trajectories and species divergence. Journal of Mammalogy, 87: 201-215.

Thorington, R. W., Jr., C. E. Schennum, L. A. Pappas, and D. Pitassy. 2005. The Difficulties of Identifying Flying Squirrels (Sciuridae: Pteromyini) in the Fossil Record. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 25(4): 950-961.

Thorington, R. W., Jr., and R. S. Hoffmann. 2005. Family Sciuridae. Vol 2:754-818, in: Mammal Species of the World, Third Edition (D. E. Wilson and D. M. Reeder, eds.). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD. 2 Volumes, 2141 pp.

Cardini, A., R. S. Hoffmann and R. W. Thorington, Jr. 2005. Morphological evolution in Marmots (Rodentia,Sciuridae): Size and shape of the dorsal and lateral surfaces of the cranium. Journal of Zoological Systematics, 43(3): 258-268.

Stafford, B. J., R. W. Thorington, Jr., and T. Kawamichi. 2003. Positional Behavior of Japanese Giant flying Squirrels (Petaurista leucogenys). Journal of Mammalogy, 84(1): 263-271.

Thorington, R. W. Jr., D. Pitassy, and S. A. Jansa. 2002. Phylogenies of Flying Squirrels (Pteromyinae). Journal of Mammalian Evolution, 9(1): 99-135.

Thorington, R. W., Jr. 2002. Squirrels: A Window into Social Evolution. Bioscience, 52(6): 544.

Stafford, B. J., R. W. Thorington, Jr., and T. Kawamichi. 2002. Gliding Behavior of Japanese Giant Flying Squirrels (Petaurista leucogenys). Journal of Mammalogy, 83(2): 553-562.