Who was Malcolm McKenna?

Dr. Malcolm Carnegie McKenna (1930–2008) was an influential American vertebrate paleontologist, mammalogist, and author on the subjects. He was the curator of vertebrate paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Through most of his four decades at the museum, he held a professorship in geosciences at Columbia University.

With Susan K. Bell, he co-authored the 1997 book Classification of Mammals Above the Species Level, a comprehensive work on the genealogy of Mammalia, including the systematics, relationships, and occurrences of all Mammal taxa, living and extinct, down through the rank of genus.

He was awarded the Paleontological Society Medal in 1992 and the Romer-Simpson Medal in 2000; The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology’s highest honor.