Malcolm Carnegie McKenna | |
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Born |
Pomona, California |
July 21, 1931
Died | March 3, 2008 Boulder, Colorado |
(aged 76)
Fields | |
Institutions | |
Alma mater | |
Known for | Classification of mammals |
Notable awards |
|
Spouse | Priscilla McKenna |
Children | Douglas, Andrew, Katharine, and Bruce |
Dr. Malcolm Carnegie McKenna (1930–2008) was an American paleontologist and author on the subject.
McKenna began his paleontology career at the Webb School of California (grades 9-12) in Claremont, California, under noted paleontologist and teacher, Raymond Alf. He attended the California Institute of Technology and Pomona College, then graduated in paleontology at the University of California, Berkeley, where he also earned his Ph.D.
He was the curator of vertebrate paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Through most of his four decades at the museum, he held a professorship in geosciences at Columbia University.
With Susan K. Bell, he co-authored the 1997 book Classification of Mammals Above the Species Level, a comprehensive work genealogy of Mammalia, including the systematics, relationships, and occurrences of all Mammal taxa, living and extinct, down through the rank of genus.
Awarded the Paleontological Society Medal in 1992 and the Romer-Simpson Medal in 2000; The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology’s highest honor.
McKenna was born in Pomona, California, the son of Bernice and Donald McKenna, a founding trustee of Claremont McKenna College in Southern California.