Tuttle, Merlin D(evere) (1941– )

US mammalogist. He made major contributions to studies of predator/prey interaction and foraging behaviour in mammals, and the energetics of thermoregulation, hibernation, and migration in bats. He founded Bat Conservation International (1982) in Austin, Texas, to promote a positive image of bats and encourage their preservation, and he relocated to Austin (1986) to work exclusively for this cause. He was curator of mammals at the Milwaukee Public Museum (1975–86).

Tuttle was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. He was codirector of the Venezuelan Research Project of the Smithsonian Institution (1965–67) and performed research on population ecology at the University of Minnesota (1972).