Troy L. Best headshot
Troy L. Best
Department of Biological Sciences
Emeritus Professor


Email: besttro@auburn.edu

Research Page


Education
Ph.D. - Zoology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK
1976
M.S. - Zoology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK
1971
B.S. - Biology, Anthropology and Secondary Education, Eastern New Mexico University, Portales, NM
1967


Professional Employment
Professor, Auburn University
1996 - Present
Associate Professor, Auburn University
1991 - 1996
Assistant Professor, Auburn University
1988 - 1991
Assistant Professor, University of New Mexico
1983 - 1988
Adjunct Professor, University of New Mexico
1982 - 1983
Research Professor, Eastern New Mexico University
1976 - 1986
Assistant Professor, Northeastern University
1974 - 1976


Honors and Awards
Joseph Grinnell Award, American Society of Mammalogists
2014
Lifetime Achievement Award, Southeastern Bat Diversity Network
2010
George Miksch Sutton Award in Conservation Research, Southwestern Association of Naturalists
2009
Founder's Award, Colloquium on the Conservation of Mammals in the Southeastern United States
2009


Professional Activities
Board of Governors, The Southwestern Association of Naturalists
Curator of Mammals, Auburn University Natural History Museum
Member of Society of the Sigma Xi


Research and Teaching Interests

  • Vertebrate Ecology, Systematics, Mammalogy, Ornithology, Herpetology.
  • Biogeography of North American deserts and Endangered Species.


Selected Publications

  1. Dute, R. R., L. A. Bowen, S. Schier, A. G. Vevon, T. L. Best, M. Auad, T. Elder, P. Bouche, and S. Jansen.  2014.  Pit membranes of Ephedra resemble gymnosperms more than angiosperms.  International Association of Wood Anatomists Journal, 35:217-235.

  2. Kennedy, M. L., G. D. Schnell, M. de L. Romero-Almaraz, B. S. Malakouti, C. Sánchez-Hernández, T. L. Best, and M. C. Wooten.  2013.  Demographic features, distribution, and habitat selection of the gray mouse opossum (Tlacuatzin canescens) in Colima, Mexico. Acta Theriologica, 58:285-298.

  3. Poindexter, C. J., G. D. Schnell, C. Sánchez-Hernández, M. de L. Romero-Almaraz, M. L. Kennedy, T. L. Best, and M. C. Wooten.  2013.  Demographic features and habitat preferences of Osgoodomys banderanus (Osgood’s deermouse) in Colima, Mexico.  The Southwestern Naturalist, 58:8-19.

  4. Poindexter, C. J., G. D. Schnell, C. Sánchez-Hernández, M. de L. Romero-Almaraz, M. L. Kennedy, T. L. Best, M. C. Wooten, and R. D. Owen.  2012.  Variation in habitat use of coexisting rodent species in tropical dry deciduous forest.  Mammalian Biology, 77:249-257.

  5. Poindexter, C. J., G. D. Schnell, C. Sánchez-Hernández, M. de L. Romero-Almaraz, M. L. Kennedy, T. L. Best, M. C. Wooten, and R. D. Owen.  2012.  Co-occurrence of small mammals in a tropical dry deciduous forest:  comparisons of communities and individual species in Colima, Mexico.  Journal of Tropical Ecology, 28:65-72.

  6. Hunt, J. L., and T. L. Best.  2010.  Vegetative characters of active and abandoned leks of lesser prairie-chickens (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) in southeastern New Mexico.  The Southwestern Naturalist, 55:477-487.


Courses
Undergraduate Graduate
Human Anatomy & Physiology I - BIOL2500
Human Anatomy & Physiology II - BIOL2510
Mammalogy - BIOL5760/6760
Field Biology & Ecology - BIOL5160 / 6160
Undergraduate Research - BIOL4980
Advanced Mammalogy - BIOL7060
Ecology & Behavior of Bats - BIOL7980
Desert Mammals - BIOL7980




Last updated: 10/05/2021