Benjamin Arthur Bensley

{{Short description|Canadian mammologist}}

Benjamin Arthur Bensley (1875–1934) was a Canadian mammologist.

He was born in Hamilton, Ontario to Robert Daniel and Caroline Vandeleur Bensley.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=January 22, 1934|title=Dr. B.A. Bensley Dies; Zoology Professor|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1934/01/22/95028423.html?zoom=16.240000000000002|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=September 23, 2020|website=timesmachine.nytimes.com|page=15|language=en}} He was best known for his work on marsupials and a standard text Practical Anatomy of the Rabbit. Bensley headed the department of biology at the University of Toronto after graduating from the same institution and completing his doctorate at the University of Columbia.

He spent about two years in London, from 1901, studying marsupials at the British Museum. In 1903 he returned to the University of Toronto as a lecturer and in 1914 was made head of the Biology Department.

He was the first director of the Royal Ontario Museum of Zoology, appointed on its founding in October 1913.{{cite journal |last1=Snyder |first1=L.L. |title=Benjamin Arthur Bensley |journal=Journal of Mammalogy |date=14 August 1936 |volume=17 |issue=3 |pages=312–313 |doi=10.2307/1374436 |jstor=1374436 |url=http://wp.biota.utoronto.ca/thebrodieclub/files/2013/01/obit-Bensley.pdf |access-date=28 March 2019 |archive-date=28 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190328215158/http://wp.biota.utoronto.ca/thebrodieclub/files/2013/01/obit-Bensley.pdf |url-status=dead }}{{cite book |last1=Lovat |first1=Dickson |title=The museum makers: the story of the Royal Ontario Museum |date=1986 |publisher=Royal Ontario Museum |location=Toronto, ON |isbn=0-88854-326-3 |page=36}}

He died on January 20, 1934, at his home in Toronto. He was survived by his wife, Ruth Horton, and his son, Dr. Edward Bensley.