Arthur H. Harris is an American mammalogist and paleontologist. He named it after the British mammalogist Michael Rogers Oldfield Thomas. The specific name honors Brazilian mammalogist Rui Cerqueira. John Casimir Zichy Woinarski is an Australian ornithologist, mammalogist, and herpetologist. In 1936, their son David was born, who became a notable mammalogist. It was described in 1917 by American mammalogist Joel Asaph Allen. He graduated from Moscow State University in 1950, with aspirations to become a mammalogist. The specific name, "pattoni", is in honor of American mammalogist James L. Patton. He was married to ornithologist Maria Koepcke, and was the father of mammalogist Juliane Koepcke. A mammalogist on average can make roughly $58,000 a year. The species is named after American mammalogist Clinton Hart Merriam. It was rediscovered by Smithsonian mammalogist Kristofer Helgen preserved in alcohol. The specific name, "wilsoni", is in honor of American mammalogist Don Ellis Wilson. It was described as a new species in 1906 by Danish mammalogist Knud Andersen. It was described as a new species in 1991 by Australian mammalogist Tim Flannery.