Florentino Ameghino was an Argentine

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

 naturalist

Natural history

Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...

, paleontologist

Paleontology

Paleontology "old, ancient", ὄν, ὀντ- "being, creature", and λόγος "speech, thought") is the study of prehistoric life. It includes the study of fossils to determine organisms' evolution and interactions with each other and their environments...

, anthropologist

Anthropology

Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...

 and zoologist

Zoology

Zoology |zoölogy]]), is the branch of biology that relates to the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct...

.

Born in Luján

Luján, Buenos Aires

Luján is a city in the Buenos Aires province of Argentina, located 68 kilometres north west of the city of Buenos Aires. The city was founded in 1755 and has a population of 94,000 ....

, son of Italian immigrants, Ameghino was a self-taught naturalist, and focused his study on the lands of the southern Pampas. He formed one of the largest collections of fossil

Fossil

Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...

s of the world at the time, which served him as base for numerous geological and paleontological studies. He also investigated the possible presence of prehistoric

Prehistory

Prehistory is the span of time before recorded history. Prehistory can refer to the period of human existence before the availability of those written records with which recorded history begins. More broadly, it refers to all the time preceding human existence and the invention of writing...

 man in the Pampas and made several controversial claims about human origins in South America.

Ameghino was appointed professor of zoology

Zoology

Zoology |zoölogy]]), is the branch of biology that relates to the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct...

 at the University of Córdoba

National University of Córdoba

The National University of Córdoba, , is the oldest university in Argentina, and one of the oldest in the Americas. It is located in Córdoba, the capital of Córdoba Province. Since the early 20th century it has been the second largest university in the country in terms of the number of students,...

, subdirector of the La Plata Museum

La Plata Museum

The La Plata Museum is a natural history museum in La Plata, Argentina.The building, 135 meters long, today houses 3 million fossils and relics , an amphitheatre, opened in 1992, and a 58,000-volume library, serving over 400 university researchers...

, and director of the Bernardino Rivadavia Natural Sciences Museum

Bernardino Rivadavia Natural Sciences Museum

The Bernardino Rivadavia Natural Sciences Museum is a public museum located in the Caballito section of Buenos Aires, Argentina.-History and overview:...

, in Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...

.

He died from diabetes in Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...

.

The crater Ameghino

Ameghino (crater)

Ameghino is a lunar impact crater located to the north of the Sinus Successus, a bay in the northeast part of Mare Fecunditatis. Less than 15 kilometers to the northwest of Ameghino were the landing sites of the Soviet Luna 18 and Luna 20 probes....

 on the Moon

Moon

The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...

 is named in his honour. The Florentino Ameghino Partido

Florentino Ameghino Partido

Florentino Ameghino Partido is a partido in the north-west of Buenos Aires Province in Argentina.The provincial subdivision has a population of about 8,000 inhabitants in an area of , and its capital city is Florentino Ameghino, which is located from Buenos Aires.- Name :Florentino Ameghino...

 and its county seat of Ameghino

Florentino Ameghino, Buenos Aires

Florentino Ameghino is a town in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the head town of the Florentino Ameghino Partido.The town is named after Argentine naturalist, paleontologist, anthropologist and zoologist Florentino Ameghino ....

, situated in the north-west of Buenos Aires Province

Buenos Aires Province

The Province of Buenos Aires is the largest and most populous province of Argentina. It takes the name from the city of Buenos Aires, which used to be the provincial capital until it was federalized in 1880...

, are also named after him, as is the palaeontology journal

Scientific journal

In academic publishing, a scientific journal is a periodical publication intended to further the progress of science, usually by reporting new research. There are thousands of scientific journals in publication, and many more have been published at various points in the past...

 Ameghiniana

Ameghiniana

Ameghiniana is a peer-reviewed palaeontology journal published by the Asociación Paleontológica Argentina. The journal is named after the 19th century Italian Argentine palaeontologist Florentino Ameghino...

.

External links

• Florentino Ameghino biography (Spanish)