Cave expert Thomas C. Barr Jr. dead at 79

Zoologist Thomas C. Barr Jr. died from a heart attack this week at the age of 79. Barr, a professor emeritus at the University of Kentucky, was known for the "scores of scientific papers, discoveries and a book" about caves in Tennessee and neighboring states, Anne Paine of The Tennessean reports. (Nashville Grotto photo)

Barr's "passion for the world underground began at age 7 when his parents took him to Mammoth Cave," Paine writes. His writings on ecology, taxonomy, cave evolution and beetles inspired a generation of cavers throughout the region; he was a founding member of the Nashville and Boston grottos of the National Speleological Society.

Barr wrote the book Caves of Tennessee while he was in his 20s. His research was funded by the state, and he and Roy Davis, operator of Cumberland Caverns, "eventually disclosed more than 700 caves," Paine reports.

Barr's caving expeditions led to his descriptions of "over one hundred species of cave beetles, many of which were previously unknown," Paine writes. "At the time of his death, he was collaborating on a paper for a newly discovered species of ground beetle, carabide, to be published by the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. (Read more)