Jeheskel "Hezy" Shoshani (Hebrew: יחזקאל שושני; January 23, 1943 – May 21, 2008) was an evolutionary biologist who studied elephants and their relatives for over 35 years.
Jeheskel Shoshani | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | May 21, 2008 | (aged 65)
Cause of death | Terrorism-linked explosion on a public minibus |
Nationality | American, Israeli |
Other names | "Hezy" Shoshani |
Known for | Specialist in proboscidean anatomy and evolution Advocate of elephant conservation Founder of Elephant Research Foundation |
Spouse | Sandra Lash Shoshani |
Scientific career | |
Institutions | Wayne State University |
Thesis | On the Phylogenetic Relationships Among Paenungulata and Within Elephantidae as Demonstrated by Molecular and Osteological Evidence (1986) |
Shoshani was born in what is now Tel Aviv, Israel, but he held dual citizenship in the United States.[1] His interest in elephants began in his youth after he read a Hebrew copy of Willis Lindquist's Burma Boy,[2][3] which told the story of the relationship between a boy and an elephant.[4] He began his career as a zookeeper at the Tel Aviv Zoo[3] and became the head zookeeper in 1966.[5] He went on to research elephants in Sri Lanka and Kenya[4] before moving to Detroit, Michigan in 1968[6] and becoming an undergraduate professor at Wayne State University around 1973.[7] Shoshani founded the Elephant Interest Group (later known as the Elephant Research Foundation) in June 1977,[1] and was the sole editor of its official journal, Elephant (formerly Elephant Newsletter), for most of its run.[7] He also established the Elephant Research Foundation Library, through which he collected and cataloged published and archival materials, displays, and biological samples relating to elephants.[2] Shoshani was awarded his PhD from the university in 1986[6] and taught there while living with his wife Sandra and their pet rock hyrax[5] until he moved to Eritrea in 1998. There, he studied a poorly-known population of African bush elephants that were threatened by conflicts between Eritrea and Ethiopia[3][7] and taught at the University of Asmara until 2006.[7] Concerned about the danger of the Eritrea-Ethiopia border area,[4] he moved to Ethiopia in 2007 to continue his research, and taught at the University of Addis Ababa.[3]
During his life, Shoshani published over 168 scientific articles and books on elephants.[3] His research focused primarily on their anatomy and taxonomy, but he also studied other taxa like primates.[1] Notably, he led an extensive dissection of a 46-year-old female Sri Lankan elephant named Iki from 1980 to 1988,[2][8] coauthored landmark papers on the elephant brain[9] and vision,[10] and was the editor and coauthor of two encyclopedic volumes on elephants and their relatives: the technical The Proboscidea: Evolution and Palaeoecology of Elephants and Their Relatives, and the layman-oriented Elephants: Majestic Creatures of The Wild.[1][3] He was also partially or wholly responsible for naming multiple proboscidean taxa, including the suborder Plesielephantiformes,[11] the family Numidotheriidae,[12] and the species Eritreum melakeghebrekristosi.[13]
Shoshani was among several people killed in a terrorism-linked explosion in a public minibus in downtown Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on May 21, 2008.[4] Following his death, The Elephant Research Foundation board of directors renamed the library to The Jeheskel (Hezy) Shoshani Library Endowed Collection to commemorate his research,[7] and it currently houses over 1,100 items.[2] The amebelodontid Eurybelodon shoshanii was named in his honor in 2016.[14]