Dr. Juan A. Rivero, the founder of the Dr. Juan A. Rivero Zoo

Dr. Juan A. Rivero Zoo

Dr. Juan A. Rivero Zoo is a zoo located in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. It is the only zoo on the island. It is named in honor of Juan A. Rivero, its first director. It has an extensive collection of animals from all continents, as well as new facilities.-History:...

 at the University of Puerto Rico

University of Puerto Rico

The University of Puerto Rico is the state university system of Puerto Rico. The system consists of 11 campuses and has approximately 64,511 students and 5,300 faculty members...

's Mayagüez Campus, was born on March 5, 1923 in Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...

.

Education

Dr. Rivero obtained a Bachelor of Science

Bachelor of Science

A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...

 in Agronomy

Agronomy

Agronomy is the science and technology of producing and using plants for food, fuel, feed, fiber, and reclamation. Agronomy encompasses work in the areas of plant genetics, plant physiology, meteorology, and soil science. Agronomy is the application of a combination of sciences like biology,...

 from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez

University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez

The University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez or Recinto Universitario de Mayagüez in Spanish , is a land-grant, sea-grant, space-grant state university located in the city of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico...

 in 1945. In 1942 he joined the Beta-Activo Chapter of Phi Sigma Alpha

Phi Sigma Alpha

Phi Sigma Alpha Fraternity commonly known as La Sigma, is a Puerto Rican fraternity established originally as the Sigma Delta Alpha Fraternity on October 22, 1928 at the University of Puerto Rico by 12 students and a professor...

 Fraternity. In 1951 he obtained an M.S. from Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

, followed by a Ph.D. from that same institution in 1953.

Academic career

After obtaining his bachelors degree, Dr. Rivero seved as an Assistant Plant Physiologist, Instructor, Assistant Professor and Associate Professor before becoming a full Professor of Biology at UPR-Mayagüez in 1958. After founding the institution's zoo in 1954, he served as its first director, as well as founder and director of the UPR's Institute of Marine Biology. From 1959 to 1960 he served as director of the Biology Department and from 1962 to 1966, as Dean of Arts and Sciences, oversaw the work of over 200 faculty members and a two million dollar annual budget. Between 1966 and 1968, he served as a Research Associate at Harvard University and Visiting Scientist at the Venezuelan Institute of Scientific Investigation.

Other accomplishments

In addition to founding the Mayagüez Zoo, Puerto Rico's only zoological garden, Law 32 of 1998 named the zoo after him.

He has discovered over a hundred animal species, particularly amphibian

Amphibian

Amphibians , are a class of vertebrate animals including animals such as toads, frogs, caecilians, and salamanders. They are characterized as non-amniote ectothermic tetrapods...

s and reptile

Reptile

Reptiles are members of a class of air-breathing, ectothermic vertebrates which are characterized by laying shelled eggs , and having skin covered in scales and/or scutes. They are tetrapods, either having four limbs or being descended from four-limbed ancestors...

s, many of which were named in his honor, including:

Geomelania riveroi Clench

Hemitrochus riveroi Tuner (molluses)

Glomiredismus riveroi Chamberlin (miriapod)

Ballophilus riveroi Chamberling (miriapod)

Phostherapis riveroi Danoso Barros (frog)

Atractus riveroi (snake)

Hyla riveroi Cochran and Going (frog)

Processa riveroi Manning & Chace (crustacean)

Leptodactylus riveroi Heyer (frog)

Manshalkla riveroi Ramos (membracid homopferan)

Eleutherodactylus juanariveroi

He was the founder and first president of the Puerto Rico Zoological Society

Puerto Rico Zoological Society

The Puerto Rico Zoological Society was founded by Dr. Juan A. Rivero, a professor of Biology of the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez.Dr. Rivero went on to serve as the Society's first president....

, as well as of the Association of Island Marine Laboratories.

In addition to writing over 200 papers and articles, he has written numerous books, including:

Los coquíes de Puerto Rico

El Coquí Dorado de Puerto Rico y otras Ranas de Hábitos Reproductivos Peculiares

Anfibios y Reptiles de Puerto Rico

Anfibios y Reptiles de Nuestro Folklore

Los Machos, las Hembras y los Intersexos

Biología del Sexo

Principios de Evolución Orgánica

Los Helechos Cuernos de Alce o Platicerios

Salientia de Venezuela

Expedición de la UPR a las Selvas del Alto Orinoco 1950

El Dolor de la Espalda Baja

He wrote the Phi Sigma Alpha

Phi Sigma Alpha

Phi Sigma Alpha Fraternity commonly known as La Sigma, is a Puerto Rican fraternity established originally as the Sigma Delta Alpha Fraternity on October 22, 1928 at the University of Puerto Rico by 12 students and a professor...

 "Brindis" or toast.

See also

• List of famous Puerto Ricans
• Puerto Rican scientists and inventors