Michael Rogers Oldfield Thomas (21 February 1858 – 16 June 1929) was a British zoologist.

Career

Thomas worked at the Natural History Museum on mammals, describing about 2,000 new species and subspecies for the first time. He was appointed to the museum secretary's office in 1876, transferring to the zoological department in 1878. In 1891, Thomas married Mary Kane, daughter of Sir Andrew Clark, heiress to a small fortune, which gave him the finances to hire mammal collectors and present their specimens to the museum. He also did field work himself in Western Europe and South America. His wife shared his interest in natural history, and accompanied him on collecting trips. In 1896, when William Henry Flower took control of the department, he hired Richard Lydekker to rearrange the exhibitions, allowing Thomas to concentrate on these new specimens. Thomas viewed his taxonomy efforts from the scope of British imperialism. "You and I in our scientific lives have seen the general knowledge of Mammals of the world wonderfully advanced – there are few or no blank areas anymore", he said in a letter to Gerrit Smith Miller Jr. Officially retired from the museum in 1923, he continued his work without interruption. Although popular rumours suggested he died by shooting himself with a handgun while sitting at his museum desk, he actually died at home in 1929, aged 71, about a year after the death of his wife, "a severe blow from which he never recovered."

Taxonomic descriptions

Higher ranks

• # Deomyinae • # Desmanini • # Myzopodidae • # Ochotonidae • # Phalangeroidea • # Procaviidae

Genera

• # Aethalops • # Aethomys • # Ammodillus • # Ammodorcas • # Anisomys • # Anthops • # • # Batomys • # Beamys • # Belomys • # Blarinella • # Brachiones • # Bunomys • # • # Caenolestes • # Callicebus • # Calomyscus • # Caloprymnus • # Cannomys • # Carpomys • # Casinycteris • # Chiromyscus • # Chiruromys • # Choeroniscus • # Chrotogale • # Chrotomys • # Cistugo • # Cloeotis • # Clyomys • # Colomys • # Crateromys • # Crossomys • # Crunomys • # Ctenomys • # Cynomops • # Cyttarops • # Dacnomys • # Damaliscus • # Deomys • # Dephomys • # Desmodillus • # Desmomys • # Diomys • # Diplogale • # Diplomys • # Diplothrix • # Dologale • # Dromiciops • # Dryomys • # • # Epixerus • # Eupetaurus • # Euxerus • # • # Galeopterus • # Gerbilliscus • # Glaucomys • # Glironia • # Glirulus • # Glyphonycteris • # Glyphotes • # Grammomys • # • # Hadromys • # Haeromys • # Harpiola • # Harpyionycteris • # Hybomys • # Hylochoerus • # Hylomyscus • # Hylonycteris • # Hylopetes • # Hyomys • # • # Ia • # Ichthyomys • # Iomys • # • # Laephotis • # Lariscus • # Leggadina • # Lemmiscus • # Lenomys • # Leporillus • # Leptomys • # Lichonycteris • # Lionycteris • # Lonchophylla • # Lonchothrix • # • # Mallomys • # Mastacomys • # Mastomys • # Melanomys • # Melomys • # Menetes • # Mesophylla • # Microdillus • # Microgale • # Microryzomys • # Millardia • # Mimetillus • # Muriculus • # Mylomys • # Myoprocta • # Myosciurus • # Myotomys • # • # Neacomys • # Nesoromys • # • # Octomys • # Oecomys • # Oenomys • # Oreonax • # Otomops • # • # Parotomys • # Peroryctes • # Petaurillus • # Petinomys • # Petromyscus • # Pharotis • # Philetor • # Platalina • # Platymops • # Poecilogale • # Praomys • # Proedromys • # Pteralopex • # Pteromyscus • # • # Rhabdomys • # Rheomys • # Rhynchogale • # Rhynchomys • # • # Sciurillus • # Scleronycteris • # Scotinomys • # Scotoecus • # Scutisorex • # Sminthopsis • # Solomys • # Stochomys • # Surdisorex • # Sylvisorex • # • # Taterillus • # Thallomys • # Thamnomys • # • # Vampyressa • # Vampyriscus • # Vampyrodes • # • # Xeromys • # • # Zyzomys

Species

• # Admiralty flying fox • # Asian particolored bat • # Azores noctule • # Bare-tailed armored tree-rat • # Beatrix's bat • # Bibundi bat • # Birdlike noctule • # Bonthain rat • # Brooks's dyak fruit bat • # Buff-bellied fat-tailed mouse opossum • # Dark-brown serotine • # Dayak fruit bat • # Desert woodrat • # Egyptian pipistrelle • # Ethiopian hare • # Euryoryzomys macconnelli • # Forrest's pika • # Buller's pocket gopher • # Gerbillus allenbyi • # Gerbillus bonhotei • # Gerbillus eatoni • # Great evening bat • # Greater bamboo bat • # Greater Papuan pipistrelle • # Greater sheath-tailed bat • # Guadalcanal monkey-faced bat • # Hairy-footed flying squirrel • # Harpy fruit bat • # Hinde's lesser house bat • # Holochilus chacarius • # Hylomyscus aeta • # Indonesian mountain weasel • # Intermediate long-fingered bat • # Isabelle's ghost bat • # Junín red squirrel • # Korean hare • # Lagos serotine • # Large Luzon forest rat • # Lesser long-fingered bat • # Light-winged lesser house bat • # Long-tailed planigale • # Bengal slow loris • # Javan slow loris • # Luzon hairy-tailed rat • # Maclear's rat • # Goeldi's marmoset • # Melanomys robustulus • # Mindomys hammondi • # Miniopterus manavi • # Monito del monte • # Mount Popa pipistrelle • # Bare-tailed woolly mouse opossum • # White-bellied woolly mouse opossum • # Woolly mouse opossum • # Mouse-like hamster • # Neacomys guianae • # Neacomys spinosus • # Neacomys tenuipes • # Nectomys magdalenae • # Nephelomys auriventer • # Nephelomys caracolus • # Nephelomys childi • # Nephelomys levipes • # Nephelomys meridensis • # Nesoryzomys indefessus • # New Guinea long-eared bat • # Oecomys flavicans • # Oecomys mamorae • # Oecomys paricola • # Oecomys phaeotis • # Oecomys rex • # Oecomys roberti • # Oecomys superans • # Oligoryzomys arenalis • # Oligoryzomys victus • # Opossum rat • # Oreoryzomys balneator • # Oryzomys peninsulae • # Parahydromys asper • # Paruromys dominator • # Persian vole • # Pratt's roundleaf bat • # Proechimys roberti • # Pygmy fruit bat • # Sculptor squirrel • # Scutisorex somereni • # Southern common cuscus • # Sphaerias blanfordi • # Spinifex hopping mouse • # Strange big-eared brown bat • # Sturdee's pipistrelle • # Sulawesi giant rat • # Surat serotine • # Szechwan myotis • # Taiwan field mouse • # Thomas's yellow bat • # Tiny pipistrelle • # Velvety fruit-eating bat • # Inland broad-nosed bat • # White-bellied lesser house bat • # White-tipped tufted-tailed rat • # Woolly flying squirrel • # Woolly-headed spiny tree-rat • # Zygodontomys brunneus • # Zyzomys argurus