Tegner, Mia (1947-2001), ecologist of the kelp forests for the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, died, age 53, while scuba diving off California

Thaler, Konrad (1940- 2005), Austrian arachnologist who described 77 species of Alpine and Mediterranean spiders, died, age 64, of a sudden heart attack while on a student field trip in the Alps.

Thanikaimoni, Ganapathi (1938–1986), a leading palynologist, who studied contemporary and fossil pollens, was killed, age 48, during the military assault after terrorists hijacked Pan Am Flight 73 from Karachi. He was reportedly helping a child when hit by fragments from a grenade set off by the terrorists.

Thorbjarnarson

Thorbjarnarson, John (1957–2010), American herpetologist specializing in crocodiles, age 52, of malaria, in India. In 2012, a biologist named a new fossil species of crocodile, the largest known, in his honor Crocodylus thorbjarnarsoni. “He was a giant in the field, so it only made sense to name a giant after him,” said University of Iowa geoscientist Christopher Brochu.

Tillyard, Robin John (1881–1937), British entomologist and paleontologist, also a spiritualist who was said to have searched for the archetype dipteran via séances, died, age 56, from a broken neck suffered in an automobile accident in Australia.

Thirgood, Simon (1962-2009), vertebrate ecologist and conservation biologist, killed, age 46, by the collapse of a building during a storm in Ethiopia.

Tomorsukh, Lkagvasumberel (“Sumbe”) (1988-2015), was a junior wildlife researcher with the Snow Leopard Trust in Mongolia, working directly with leopards for radiocollaring, camera trapping , surveying, and outreach. He died November 2015 in a probable murder, age 27. Sumbe was known for speaking up in support of conservation in an area where powerful political and economic interests considered his work incompatible with mining and grazing. He was found dead in a lake soon after a confrontation. His death was ruled an accident or suicide by local authorities, but this decision was widely ridiculed by supporters. The investigation is continuing in the Khovsgol area, Mongolia.

Tonnoir, Andre Leon (1885-1940), was a Belgian entomologist, specializing in Diptera, the flies. He worked for Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), and died while collecting alone in the mountains behind Canberra, apparently of a heart attack, age 54.

Townsend

Townsend, John Kirk (1809 –1851), American physician and naturalist, age 42, of arsenic poisoning.

Tripathy, Ambika (19??-2004), was a conservation biologist studying sea turtles on Great Nicobar Island in eastern India. He was killed, age 30 to 35, when the tsunami of December 2004 struck. (See: “A story of field assistants and sea turtle research in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.” Indian Ocean Turtle Newsletter 16:19-21.)

Tudor, ??? (17??-1816), a comparative anatomist, died, probably of yellow fever, while serving aboard HMS Congo on its exploration of the Zaire River.

Tungkyitbo(?–1891), Lepcha collector working with William Doherty, hospitalized in Java for unknown condition, then died at sea.

Tyner, Mike (1976-2011), a field supervisor for the California Condor recovery program, encountered a sudden wind storm while monitoring a young condor recently released into the wild near Big Sur, California. As the crew was making their way to safety, Mike was struck and killed, age 35, by a falling tree limb.