Career
He was an expert on the mammals and birds of Southeast Asia. In the early 20th century, Kloss accompanied the American naturalist William Louis Abbott in exploring the Andaman and Nicobar islands. During the years 1912-1913 Kloss participated in the 2nd Wollaston Expedition to Dutch New Guinea, led by British medical doctor and explorer A.F.R. Sandy Wollaston, in the capacity of zoologist.
From 1908 he worked under Herbert Christopher Robinson at the museum in Kuala Lumpur.
He was Director of the Raffles Museum from 1923 to 1932. Kloss is commemorated in the names of a number of plants and animals, including:
Plants:
Eugenia klossii, plant endemic to Malaysia
Nepenthes klossii, pitcher plant endemic to New Guinea
Begonia klossii, begonia
Rungia klossii, small vegetable plant from New Guinea
Cyathea klossii, tree fern native to western New Guinea
Adiantum klossii, fern
Mammals:
Hylobates klossii, Kloss"s gibbon, endemic to Mentawai Islands, Indonesia
Euroscaptor klossi, Kloss"s mole, found in Laos, Malaysia, and Thailand
Birds:
Bubo coromandus klossii, dusky eagle owl from Malaysia
Reptiles:
Emoia klossi, Kloss" skink, a lizard endemic to western New Guinea
Gonocephalus klossi, Kloss" forest dragon, a lizard endemic to Sumatra, Indonesia
Fimbrios klossi, the bearded snake, from Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam
Hydrophis klossi, Kloss" seasnake, from the Indian Ocean coastlines of West Malaysia, Thailand (including Phuket), Singapore and Indonesia (Sumatra).