James Lloyd “Jim” Patton (June 21, 1941, Saint Louis, Missouri), is an American evolutionary biologist and mammalogist. He is emeritus professor of integrative biology and curator of mammals at the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, UC Berkeley and has made extensive contributions to the systematics and biogeography of several vertebrate taxa, especially small mammals (rodents, marsupials, and bats).
Patton is best known for his pioneering works on the evolutionary cytogenetics and systematics of rodents, especially pocket mice (Perognathus/Chaetodipus) and pocket gophers (Thomomys), the diversification of rainforest faunas, and the impact of climate change on North American mammals. He has authored nearly 200 scientific publications, many of them in collaboration with 36 graduate students and 13 post-doctoral scholars he mentored over four decades. He is one of the most experienced field mammalogists today, having collected extensively in the western United States and in 14 other countries around the world, including Mexico, Ecuador (Galapagos Islands), Peru, Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Taiwan, Vietnam, Iran, and Cameroon. As of 2005, he had deposited nearly 20,000 specimens in the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, making him the most prolific collector of mammal specimens in that institution’s nearly 100-year history.
Patton has one genus of neotropical tree rat (Pattonomys), three species of neotropical rodents (Proechimys pattoni, Phyllomys pattoni, and the fossil Ullumys pattoni), one species of fossil porcupine (Neosteiromys pattoni), one species of neotropical bat (Lonchophylla pattoni), one species of pocket gopher louse (Geomydoecus pattoni), and one species of Madagascar snake (Liophidium pattoni) named in his honor.
The American Society of Mammalogists established the "James L. Patton Award" in 2015 to promote and support museum-based research by graduate students.
Patton, J. L.; Da Silva, M. N. F.; Malcolm, J. Y. R. (2000). "Mammals of the Rio Juruá and the Evolutionary and Ecological Diversification of Amazonia". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 244: 1. doi:10.1206/0003-0090(2000)244<0001:MOTRJA>2.0.CO;2. Lacey, E. A.; Patton, J. L.; Cameron, G. N. (1 September 2000). Life Underground: The Biology of Subterranean Rodents. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-46728-3. OCLC 43207081. Moritz, C., J.L. Patton, C.J. Schneider, and T.B. Smith. 2000. Diversification of rainforest faunas: An integrated molecular approach. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 31: 533-563.Gascon, C.; Malcolm, J. R.; Patton, J. L.; Da Silva, M. N. F.; Bogart, J. P.; Lougheed, S. C.; Peres, C. A.; Neckel, S.; Boag, P. T. (2000). "Riverine barriers and the geographic distribution of Amazonian species". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 97 (25): 13672–13677. doi:10.1073/pnas.230136397. Patton, J. L. (2001). "Pocket Gophers". In Macdonald, D. W. The New Encyclopedia of Mammals. Oxford University Press, Incorporated. ISBN 978-0-19-850823-6. OCLC 59488767. Lessa, E. P.; Cook, J. A.; Patton, J. L. (2003). "Genetic footprints of demographic expansion in North America, but not Amazonia, during the Late Quaternary". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 100 (18): 10331–10334. doi:10.1073/pnas.1730921100. Patton, J.L. (2005). "Family Geomyidae". In Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M. Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 859–870. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494. Patton, J.L. (2005). "Family Heteromyidae". In Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M. Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 844–858. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494. Kelt, D. A.; Lessa, E. P.; Salazar-Bravo, J.; Patton, J. L. (editors) (2007). The Quintessential Naturalist: Honoring the Life and Legacy of Oliver P. Pearson. University of California Publications in Zoology. 134. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-09859-6. OCLC 122715394. CS1 maint: Multiple names: authors list (link)CS1 maint: Extra text: authors list (link)Patton, J. L.; Huckaby, D. B.; Alvarez-Castañeda, S. T. (2007). The evolutionary history and a systematic revision of the woodrats of the Neotoma lepida group. University of California Publications in Zoology. 135. University of California Press. pp. i–xx, 1–451. ISBN 978-0-520-09866-4. OCLC 183926621. Davis, E. B.; Koo, M. S.; Conroy, C.; Patton, J. L.; Moritz, C. (2008). "The California Hotspots Project: Identifying regions of rapid diversification of mammals". Molecular Ecology. 17: 120–138. PMID 17725571. doi:10.1111/j.1365-294X.2007.03469.x. Moritz, C.; Patton, J. L.; Conroy, C. J.; Parra, J. L.; White, G. C.; Beissinger, S. R. (2008). "Impact of a Century of Climate Change on Small-Mammal Communities in Yosemite National Park, USA" (PDF). Science. 322 (5899): 261–264. PMID 18845755. doi:10.1126/science.1163428. 
