Reference Request
Finding Aids to Personal Papers and Special Collections in the Smithsonian Institution Archives
Accession 01-096
Moynihan, M.
Martin H. Moynihan Papers, 1952-1996
Historical Note
Dr. Martin H. Moynihan (1928-1996) was a world authority on animal behavior, with major contributions to the study of communication in birds, primates, and cephalopods. In 1957 he became the Resident Naturalist and Director of what was then a small field station on Barro Colorado Island, Panama, later named the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI). He transformed the station into a major research institution in tropical biology. After retirement in 1973, he served as Senior Scientist at STRI and continued writing and researching the behavior of various species of wild and imported pheasants at his farmhouse in France.
Curriculum Vitae
Born: February 5, 1928, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.
Education: A.B. Princeton University, 1950; D.Phil. Oxford University, 1953.
Positions held: Visiting Fellow, Cornell University, 1953-1955; Research Fellow, Harvard University, 1955-1957; Resident Naturalist and Director, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, 1957-1973; Senior Scientist, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, 1973 to 1996; Research Associate, Stazione Zoologica "Anton Dohm", Naples, Italy.
Fellowships and Grants: 1950-1951, Fulbright Fellowship; 1952-1953, NSF Grant; 1953-1955, Public Health Service Postdoctoral Fellowship; 1958-1963, 1963-1967, NSF Research Grants for studies on the ecology and behavior of birds and primates; 1971-1972, and 1980's, various Smithsonian research awards for the study of Cephalopod behavior.
Honors and Societies: 1967, Walker Prize, Boston Natural History Society, for "meritorious published scientific investigation and discovery in the general area of Natural History," 1976, The Henry Medal (Board of Regents) "for outstanding contributions to the Smithsonian Institution"; 1992, New York Academy of Sciences.
Publications
1946 Evolution in the Rhipidura rujifrons group. Amer. Mus. 1321: 2-21. (With E. Mayr).
1952 Head flagging in the Black-headed Gull: its function and origin. Brit. Birds 45: 19-22. (With N. Tinbergen).
1953a Some displacement activities of the Black-headed Gull. Behaviour 5: 58-80.
1953b Some comments on conflict and thwarting in animals. Behaviour 6: 66-84. (With M. Bastock and D. Morris).
1954 Hostile, sexual and other social behaviour patterns of the Spice Finch (Lonchura punctulata) in captivity. Behaviour 7: 33-76. (With M.F. Hall).
1955a Some aspects of reproductive behavior in the Black-headed Gull (Larus ridibund ridibundus L.) and related species. Behaviour Supplement 4, 201p.
1955b Remarks on the original sources of displays. Auk 72: 240-246.
1955c Types of hostile display. Auk 72: 247-259.
1956a Behavior of a pratincole. Auk 73: 268-27 1.
1956b California Gulls and Herring Gulls breeding in the same colony. Auk 73: 453-454.
1956c Notes on the behavior of some North American gulls. I. Aerial hostile behavior. Behaviour 10: 126-178.
1957 Notes on the sea-birds of Sand Island of the Johnston Island group. Elepaio 18: 35-37.
1958a Notes on the behavior of some North American gulls. II. Non-aerial hostile behavior of adults. Behaviour 12: 95-182.
1958b Notes on the behavior of the Flying Steamer Duck. Auk 75: 183-202.
1958c Notes on the behavior of some North American gulls. III. Pairing behavior. Behaviour 13: 112-130.
1959a A revision of the family Laridae. Amer. Mus. Novitates. November 1-42.
1959b Notes on the behavior of some North American gulls. IV. The ontogeny of hostile behavior and display patterns. Behaviour 14: 214-239.
1960 Some adaptations which help to promote gregariousness. Proc. 12th Int. Orn. Cong., Helsinki 1958, pp. 523-541.
1962a The organization and probable evolution of some mixed species flocks of Neotropical birds. Smithsonian Misc. Coll. 143: 7, 1-140.
1962b Hostile and sexual behavior patterns of South American and Pacific Laridae. Behaviour, Supplement 8, 365 p.
1962c Display patterns of tropical American "nine-primaried" songbirds. 1. Chlorospingus. Auk 79: 310-344.
1962d Display patterns of tropical American "nine-primaried" songbirds. II. Some species of Ramphocelus. Auk 79: 655-686.
1963a Display patterns of tropical American "nine-primaried" songbirds. III. The Green-backed Sparrow. Auk 80: 116-144.
1963b Interspecific relations between some Andean birds. Ibis 105: 327-339.
1963c Two papers on the evolution of communal displays. Auk 80: 381-384.
1964 Some behavior patterns of platyrrhine monkeys. I. The Night Monkey (Aotus trivirgatu), Smithsonian Misc. Coll. 146: 5, 1-84.
1966a Display patterns of tropical American "nine-primaried" songbirds. IV. The Yellow-rumped Tanager. Smithsonian Misc. Coll. 149: 5, 1-34.
1966b Communication in the titi monkey, Callicebus. J. Zool. Soc. Lond. 150: 77-127.
1967 Comparative aspects of communication in New World Primates. In: Primate Ethology, edited by D. Morris, pp. 236-266. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson.
1968a Social mimicry: character convergence versus character displacement. Evolution 22: 315-331.
1968b The "Coerebini"; a group of marginal areas, habitats and habits. Amer. Natur. 102: 573-581.
1970a Some behavior patterns of platyrrhine monkeys. II. Saguinus geoffroyi and some other tamarins. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 28: 1-77.
1970b The control, suppression, decay, disappearance and replacement of displays. L. Theor. Biol. 29: 85-112.
1971 Successes and failures of tropical mammals and birds. Amer. Natur. 105: 371-383.
1973a Species proportions - a reply. Amer. Natur. 107: 155-156.
1973b The evolution of behavior and the role of behavior in evolution. Breviora 415: 1-29.
1975 Conservatism of displays and comparable stereotyped patterns among cephalopods. In: Function and Evolution in Behaviour, edited by B. Baerends, C. Beer and A. Manning G., pp. 276-291. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
1976a THE NEW WORLD PRIMATES: Adaptive Radiation and the Evolution of Social Behavior, Languages, and Intelligence. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 262p.
1976b Notes on the ecology and behavior of the Pygmy Marmoset, Cebuella pygmaea, in Amazonian Colombia. Neotropical Primates. In: Field Studies and Conservation, pp. 79-84. Washington: National Academy of Sciences.
1977 Communication, crypsis, and mimicry among cephalopods. In: How Animals Communicate, edited by T. Sebeok, pp. 293-302. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. (With A.F. Rodaniche).
1978 An "Ad hoc" association of hornbills, starlings, coucals, and other birds. Terra et Vie 3: 357-376.
1979 GEOGRAPHIC VARIATION IN SOCIAL BEHAVIOR AND IN ADAPTATION TO COMPETITION AMONG ANDEAN BIRDS. Publ. Nuttall Orn. Club 18:162p.
1980 The coincidence of mimicries and other misleading coincidences. Amer. Natur., 117(4): 372-378.
1982a Spatial parameters and interspecific social relations: some differences between birds and fishes. J. Theor. Biol. 95: 253-262.
1982b THE BEHAVIOR AND NATURAL HISTORY OF THE CARIBBEAN REEF SQUID SEPIOTEUTHIS SEPIOIDEA. Zeitschr. f. Tierpsychol., Advances in Ethology 25, 150p. (With A. Rodaniche).
1982c Why is lying about intentions rare during some kind of contests? J. Theor. Biol., 97(l): 7-12.
1982d Introduccion. In: Evolucion en los Tropicos, edited by Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and Editorial Universitaria. Impresora Panama: Panama, pp. 11-14.
1983a A slight discrepancy. Amer Natur., 121: 301.
1983b Notes on the behavior of Euprymna scolopes (Cephalopoda: Sepioidae). Behaviour 85: 25-41.
1983c Notes on the behavior of Idiosepius pygmaeus (Cephalopoda: Idiosepiidae). Behaviour 85: 42-57.
1984 Transpositions of signals and the persistence of releasing mechanisms. Zeitschr. f. Tierpsychol., 64: 269-282.
1985a Why are cephalopods deaf? Amer. Natur. 25(3): 465-469.
1985b COMMUNICATION AND NON-COMMUNICATION BY CEPHALOPODS. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 141p.
1987a Social relations among Halcyon kingfishers in Senegal. Rev. Ecol. (Terre et Vie) 42: 145-166.
1987b Notes on the behaviour of Giant Kingfishers. Malimbus 9(2): 97-104.
1988 The opportunism of the Abyssinian Roller (Coracias abyssinica) in Senegal. Rev. Ecol. (Terre et Vie) 43: 159-166.
1990 Social, sexual and pseudosexual behavior of the blue-bellied roller, coracias syanogaster; the Consequences of Crowding or Concentration. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 491: 1-23.
1991 Structures of Animal Communication. In: Man & Beast Revisited, edited by Michael H. Robinson and Lionel Tiger, pp. 193-202. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press.
1995 Social structures and behavior patterns of captive and feral Reeves' Pheasants (Syrmaticus reevesi) in France. Alauda 63(3):41-56.
1997 Self Awareness, with Specific References to Coleoid Cephalopods. In: Anthropomorphism, Anecdotes, and Animals, edited by Robert W. Mitchell, Nicholas S. Thompson, and H. Lyn Miles, pp. 213-219. Albany: State University of New York Press.
1998 THE SOCIAL REGULATION OF COMPETITION AND AGGRESSION IN ANIMALS. Washington and London: Smithsonian Institution Press, 158p.
Descriptive Entry
These papers consist primarily of field notes, and include correspondence, photographs, sonograms and spectograms, and a small number of audio tapes.
Many of the materials in this collection are available online.
Index Terms
This collection is indexed under the following access terms. These are links to collections with related topics, persons or places.
Name
- Moynihan, M.
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
- United States. Canal Zone Biological Area, Barro Colorado Island
Subject
Physical Characteristics of Materials in the Collection
Administrative Information
Preferred Citation
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Accession 01-096, Martin H. Moynihan Papers