Michael F. Bates

Dr Michael F. Bates is a Specialist Scientist and Head of the Herpetology Department at the National Museum, where he has worked since 1983. He achieved his Ph.D. degree from the University of Stellenbosch in 2007 (“An analysis of the Pseudocordylus melanotus complex [Sauria: Cordylidae]”). Michael’s main focus is taxonomic studies of snakes and lizards. He was a major contributor and senior editor of the recently published Atlas and Red List of the Reptiles of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland (2014), and has authored about 30 full length scientific papers and over 150 other articles.

Over the years he has attended over 40 conferences and workshops, refereed about 60 manuscripts, co-supervised three B.Sc. Honours students, and in 2012 was awarded an African Biodiversity Information Centre study visit scholarship by the Royal Museum of Central Africa (Tervuren, Belgium). Michael has published several articles in the Museum’s magazine (now Culna) and journal (now Indago). His most recent contribution to Indago was a detailed taxonomic revision of the egg-eating snakes of north-eastern Africa and south-western Arabia, published in the most recent issue of the journal.