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American herpetologist From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tracy Jo Barker (née Miller) (born December 10, 1957)[1] is an American herpetologist specializing in pythons.
Tracy Jo Barker | |
---|---|
Born | Tracy Miller December 10, 1957 |
Nationality | American |
Occupation | Herpetologist specializing in pythons |
Spouse | David G. Barker |
Father | J. Jefferson Miller |
Barker grew up in Washington, D.C., as the daughter of J. Jefferson Miller[2][3] who was Curator of ceramics and glass at the Smithsonian Institution.[4] After an undergraduate degree in psychology at the University of Colorado,[5] she graduated in biology at the Central Michigan University.[6] She also worked as a reptile keeper at Buffalo Zoological Gardens.[4][7] Already in her early years, she specialized in herpetology and focused on animal behavior. She worked as a field biologist for repopulating Green Iguanas in Panama[8][9] and studied the reproductive behavior of Tuatara on Stephens Island in New Zealand.[10][4]
In 1990 she and her husband, biologist David G. Barker, founded Vida Preciosa International, Inc. (VPI), an enterprise dedicated to the research necessary to establish self-sustaining captive populations of pythons and boas. This facility became one of the largest and most diverse collection of pythons in the world; in 1997, the Barkers and their work at VPI were featured in a National Geographic Television documentary titled “Passion for Pythons”.[4][11][12] They managed to reproduce 32 of the 52 recognized taxa of pythons. Among them, the first ever reproduction of 12 taxa.[13]
Barker has written numerous papers in scientific journals as well as dozens of popular publications. In 1979, Barker described a new species of python Python saxuloides, which is currently regarded as a slightly distinct Kenyan population of the later re-erected Python natalensis.[14][15] One of her five books, Pythons of the World, Volume 2: Ball Pythons, was certified as “The Best Animal Book of 2006” by the Independent Publisher Book Awards.[16]
In 2000 a new species of python, Morelia tracyae, was named in her honor.[17][18]
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