Bradley C. Livezey

Bradley Curtis Livezey (June 15, 1954 – February 8, 2011) was an American ornithologist. His main research included the evolution of flightless birds, the ecology and the behaviour of steamer ducks, genetic analysis of birds, and avian diseases.

Early life

Livezey was born in Massachusetts but often moving, grew up mostly in Chicago. His interest in birds developed early. Livezey earned a Bachelor of Science at Oregon State University in 1976. In 1979 he earned his first Master of Science degree at the University of Wisconsin–Madison in wildlife ecology and in 1984 his second in mathematics at the University of Kansas. In 1985 he completed a Ph.D. with his thesis Systematics and flightlessness of steamer-ducks (Anatidae: Tachyeres) at the University of Kansas.

Research

Livezey's research work dealt with controversial areas of bird phylogenetics and taxonomy. While Livezey's colleagues often used DNA analysis to support their research, Livezey demonstrated a more traditional approach, based on exhaustive studies of bone shape and other characteristics. His general interests included phylogenetic relationships of avian families, phylogenetic relationships of waterfowl, evolution of avian flightlessness, comparative osteology of birds, multivariate morphometrics, and avian paleontology.

In 1993 Dr. Livezey was employed at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh. As curator of the birds department he oversaw around 195,000 bird specimens, the ninth-largest bird collection in the United States.

On February 8, 2011 Livezey died in a two-car collision caused by icy road conditions on the Pennsylvania Route 910 near his home in Wexford, Pennsylvania.

Brad Livezey's sister Alyson Hartmann lives in Flossmoor, Illinois and his brother Kent Livezey in Puyallup, Washington.

Works (selected)

• 1992: Taxonomy and identification of steamer-ducks (Anatidae : Tachyeres). Museum of Natural History, University of Kansas
• 2003: Evolution of Flightlessness in Rails (Gruiformes: Rallidae): Phylogenetic, Ecomorphological, and Ontogenetic Perspectives. Ornithological Monographs No. 53
• 2007: Higher-order phylogeny of modern birds (Theropoda, Aves: Neornithes) based on comparative anatomy. II. Analysis and discussion (with Richard Laurence Zusi). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2007, 149: 1–95.

References

• Vivian Nereim: Obituary: Bradley Livezey / Nationally respected expert on birds at Carnegie Museum In: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 10 February 2011
• Rick Wills: Car-crash victim was 'best avian anatomist' In: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review 10 February 2011

External links

• Carnegie Museum of Natural History – Curator of Birds