zoologist, one of the first mammalogists (mammalogy) to use external features, such as feet and ears, in the classification of higher animals.

In 1904 Pocock became superintendent of the Zoological Garden at Regent's Park, London. During this period (1904–23) he wrote a series of papers on the use of external characteristics in classifying mammals. His reputation as a leading mammalogist stems primarily from his work on hoofed mammals, flesh-eating mammals, and primates.

Pocock wrote or contributed to some 200 papers, demonstrating the diversity of his career. “On the Specialized Cutaneous Glands of Ruminants,” published in 1910, was instrumental in his election to fellowship of the Royal Society of London in 1911.