Dr. Colin Groves, R.I.P.

Dr. Colin Groves, a mammologist/anthropologist/taxonomist who was notable for superb scholarship, wide-ranging interests, countless excellent publications, and an open mind, has died at 75.  Groves was Professor of Biological Anthropology at the Australian National University in Canberra, Australia, but he was much more than that.  He co-described a new human ancestor, Homo ergaster, and many living species to boot. He was active in Australia's skeptical society but was open to evidence of new species, including cryptozoological ones.  He wrote about everything from pigs to the Flores "hobbits."   (He argued this species was real and not the result of pathological specimens.)  In late 1999, Groves was part of a team that reported the African elephant was not one species, but two, promoting the small forest elephant to full species status. He corresponded with me several times and was helpful in my 2006 book Shadows of Existence.    
Dr. Groves was a hero for the global environment, helping us understand and protect the animal kingdom.  He will be greatly missed.