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Gwynneth Vaughan Buchanan (1886-1945) was an Australian zoologist. She is best known for her work on animal morphology, culminating in the book "Elements of Animal Morphology", which ran to four editions. She was a lecturer, and then a senior lecturer, at the University of Melbourne from 1921 to 1944.

Early Life

Gwynneth Vaughan Buchanan was born on 21 November 1886, in Sydney, Australia. She was the only child of Thomas Buchanan and Gwynneth Vaughan. Her father, Thomas Buchanan, was a banker. After her father's death in 1897, she moved to Melbourne to live with her mother.

Education and Career

She graduated from the University of Melbourne with B.Sc. (first class honours) in March 1908. She also won the scholarship in biology for her final honours examination. In December the same year, she won the MacBain scholarship for her work in the field of Australian earth worms, which allowed her to continue in the same field of research until 1909, when she was made junior demonstrator in biology. She then graduated M.Sc. in 1910, and began to tutor in biology at Queen's collage, Melbourne. She also received a bursary, allowing her to study the blood of Australian birds and marsupials. In August 1913, she moved to England, where she worked on the embryology of Australian marsupials at University College, London. This work, in combination with earlier published work, won her a D.Sc. at the University of Melbourne in April 1916.

Gwynneth was appointed the lecturer-in-charge of biology at the University of Western Australia for two terms in 1920. The very next year, she became a full-time lecturer in Zoology at the University of Melbourne, and then in 1925, a senior lecturer. In 1926, she became the acting head of department.

Retirement and Late Life

By 1935, Gwynneth was already afflicted with arteriosclerosis and chronic nephritis, and that resulted in her taking a leave of absence in 1944 and subsequent retirement at the end of the year. She died on 21 June 1945 and was cremated.