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Charles Gald Sibley (August 7, 1917 – April 12, 1998) was an American ornithologist and molecular biologist. Events 322 BC - Battle of Crannon between Athens and Macedon following the death of Alexander the Great. Year 1917 ( MCMXVII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Events 467 - Anthemius is elevated to Emperor of the Western Roman Empire. Year 1998 ( MCMXCVIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar) The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Ornithology (from Greek ὄρνις ὄρνιθος ornis, ornithos, "bird" and λόγος logos, "knowledge" is the branch of Molecular biology is the study of Biology at a molecular level He had an immense influence on the scientific classification of birds, and the work that Sibley initiated has substantially altered our understanding of the evolutionary history of modern birds. Birds ( class Aves) are bipedal endothermic ( Warm-blooded) Vertebrate animals that lay eggs.

Sibley's taxonomy has been a major influence on the sequences adoped by ornithological organizations, especially the American Ornithologists' Union. The American Ornithologists' Union ( AOU) an ornithological organization in the USA.

He is of no known family relation to renowned bird artist David Sibley, although the families knew each other (one of Charles' daughters babysat David, for instance) and David's father Fred worked for Charles at Yale. David Allen Sibley (born 1962, New York) is an American ornithologist. There is some family resemblance, and Charles did a fair amount of genealogical research but could only establish that any relationship was no closer than fourth cousin.

Contents

Life and Work

Educated in California (A. California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. B. 1940; Ph. D. 1948 in Zoology, University of California, Berkeley. The University of California Berkeley (also referred to as Cal, Berkeley and UC Berkeley) is a major research university located in Berkeley Minor fields: Paleontology, Botany), he did his first fieldwork in Mexico in 1939 and 1941, then in Solomon Islands, Bismarck Archipelago, New Guinea, and the Philippines during World War II while on leave from the U. The United Mexican States ( or commonly Mexico (ˈmɛksɪkoʊ () is a federal constitutional Republic in North America. The Solomon Islands is a country in Melanesia, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands The Bismarck Archipelago is a group of islands off the northeastern coast of New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean and part of Papua New Guinea. New Guinea, located just north of Australia, is the world's second largest island, having become separated from the Australian mainland when the area now known The Philippines ( Filipino: Pilipinas, officially known as the Republic of the Philippines (fil ''Republika ng Pilipinas'' RP World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including S. Navy, in which he was Ensign to Lieutenant in the Communications and Medical Service Corps. He was based for much of the war at Emirau Island, in what is now New Ireland Province of Papua New Guinea. Emirau Island, also called Emira, is an island in the Bismarck Archipelago located at. New Ireland Province, formerly New Mecklenburg (Neu-Mecklenburg is the most northeastern province of Papua New Guinea. Papua New Guinea (or ˈpæpjuːə in Tok Pisin: Papua Niugini) officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania His first job after college was from 1948-1949 as Instructor in Zoology and Curator of Birds, University of Kansas, followed from 1949-1953 as Assistant Professor of Zoology, San Jose State College, California. The University of Kansas (often referred to as KU or just Kansas) is a public research university with campuses located in Lawrence, Kansas City San José State University, commonly shortened to San José State and SJSU, is the founding campus of what became the California State University system From 1953-1965 he was Associate Professor then Professor of Zoology and director of the ornithological laboratory at Cornell. From 1965-1986 he was Professor of Biology and William Robertson Coe Prof. of Ornithology, Dept of Biology; and Curator of Birds at the Peabody Museum at Yale. The Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale University is among the oldest largest and most prolific university natural history museums in the world From 1986-1992 he was Dean's Professor of Science and Prof. of Biology, San Francisco State University, and from 1993 until his death he was Adjunct Prof. San Francisco State University (informally referred to as San Francisco State, SF State, State and SFSU) is a public University of Biology, Sonoma State University (by invitation). Sonoma State University is a public coeducational business and Liberal arts college affiliated with the California State University system

Sibley developed an interest in hybridisation and its implications for evolution and taxonomy and, in the early 1960s he began to focus on molecular studies: of blood proteins, and then the electrophoresis of egg-white proteins. The 1960s decade refers to the years from the beginning of 1960 to the end of 1969 Electrophoresis is the most well-known electrokinetic phenomenon.

By the early 1970s Sibley was pioneering DNA-DNA hybridisation studies, with the aim of discovering, once and for all, the true relationships between the modern orders of birds. This article is about the Decade 1970-1979 For the Year 1970 see 1970. DNA-DNA hybridization generally refers to a Molecular biology technique that measures the degree of genetic similarity between pools of DNA sequences These were highly controversial to begin with, and regarded by colleagues as anything from snake-oil salesmanship on the one hand to Holy Writ on the other. (Ahlquist 1999) With the passage of time and ever-improving laboratory methods, the balance of scientific opinion has shifted closer to the latter interpretation, though the picture is by no means clear-cut and simple. Scientific consensus is the collective judgement position and Opinion of the community of Scientists in a particular field of Science at a particular Some of Sibley's results - such as the close relationship of galliform birds and waterfowl and their distinctness from other neognaths, have been verified, others, such as the inclusion of diverse groups into the Ciconiiformes have turned out to be very much in error. Galliformes are an order of Birds containing turkeys, Grouse, Chickens Quails and Pheasants More than 250 See also UK Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust USA Ducks Unlimited Neognaths ( Neognathae) are Birds within the Subclass Neornithes of the class Aves. Traditionally the order Ciconiiformes has included a variety of large long-legged wading birds with large bills Storks Herons Egrets

Sibley became estranged from his American co-workers for a time and corresponded with overseas colleagues extensively. But by the mid to late 1980s, Sibley's ongoing work had reversed the trend. The 1980s was the decade spanning from January 1 1980 to December 31 1989. His revised phylogeny of living birds in the light of DNA analysis, published in various forms between 1986 and 1993 was both controversial and highly influential.

In 1986 he was elected a Member, National Academy of Sciences, U. Year 1986 ( MCMLXXXVI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar) The National Academy of Sciences (NAS is a corporation in the United States whose members serve Pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science S. A. In 1990 Sibley was elected President of the International Ornithological Congress. Year 1990 ( MCMXC) was a Common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1990 Gregorian calendar) His landmark publications, Phylogeny and Classification of Birds (written with Jon Ahlquist) and Distribution and Taxonomy of Birds of the World (with Burt Monroe) are among the most-cited of all ornithological works, the former setting out the influential Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy. Jon Edward Ahlquist specialized in Molecular phylogenetics and Ornithology, collaborating extensively with Charles Sibley, primarily at Yale University Monroe Burt L Monroe Jr ( 25 August 1930 - 14 May 1994, Louisville Kentucky) was an American ornithologist a member of the The Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy is a radical bird Taxonomy proposed by Charles Sibley and Jon Edward Ahlquist.

Acid Tongue

During the 1970s, Sibley was a highly controversial figure in ornithological circles, for both professional and personal reasons. His friend Richard Schodde, writing Sibley's obituary in Emu, commented that he was:

. Emu, subtitled "Austral Ornithology" ( ISSN 0158-4197 is the peer-reviewed Scientific journal of the Royal Australasian Ornithologists . . a rebel with a cause. In argument he would bulldoze through, brooking no contradiction. Critics were baited with an acid tongue, and, in fits of temper, he could be a cruel mimic. In short, lesser mortals were not tolerated easily and, as has been said by others, collegiate friends were few. . . . I never found him malicious or vindictive, even against those who had tried to bring him down. Nor was he particularly sophisticated or cultured, just a big, up-front Yank possessed by 'the big picture' in avian phylogeny and convinced of the righteousness of his cause and invincibility of his intellect. (Schodde 2000)

Partly due to personality conflicts, Sibley had few long-term collaborations with other scientists, with the notable exception of Jon Ahlquist. Jon Edward Ahlquist specialized in Molecular phylogenetics and Ornithology, collaborating extensively with Charles Sibley, primarily at Yale University However, he was effective in persuading others to provide him with the blood, tissue, and egg white samples which were the key to his work. (Ahlquist 1999, p. 856)

See also

References

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