Peter Wilhelm Lund
Encyclopedia
Peter Wilhelm Lund was a Danish
paleontologist, zoologist, archeologist and who spent most of his life working and living in Brazil
. He is considered the father of Brazilian paleontology as well as archeology.
He was the first to describe dozens of species of pre-historic Pleistocene
megafauna
, including the fabled Saber-toothed cat Smilodon populator. He also made the then ground-breaking, discovery that humans co-existed with the long-extinct animal species, something which possibly prompted him to terminate his scientific work. His comprehensive collections are today found at the Danish Natural History Museum in Copenhagen
.
. He showed an early interest in the natural science and was working towards a career in medicine but following the death of his father, his passion for natural history prompted him instead to opt for that study at the University of Copenhagen
. Already as a student, he wrote two prize-winning dissertations. One of them, published in German, won him international recognition.
, he travelled to Brazil
in 1825 and spend the following three and a half years collecting specimens of plants, birds and insects in the area around Rio de Janeiro
, and writing about ants, snails and birds of the region.
Back in Europe in 1829, he achieved a doctoral degree at the University of Kiel
, traveled to Italy and later established himself in Paris, where he came under the influence of Georges Cuvier
, professor of comparative anatomy
at the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle
and the most influential naturalist
and zoologist of the time.
In his Discours sur les révolutions de la surface du globe (1825), Cuvier theorized that the extinction of species
was caused by natural catastrophes in certain regions of the world. When that happens, the fauna
from other regions migrate to populate the now uninhabited area. This became known as the catastrophic theory, and would become the motto of Lund's scientific career.
. Charles Darwin
also passed through Rio in 1832 but it is unknown whether the two naturalists met.
Then in 1835, Lund traveling inland through the province of Minas Gerais
, and in Lagoa, an area characterised by a peculiar Karst geology, discovered several caves full of fossilized bones from extinct Ice Age
megafauna
species. He eventually settled in the small town of Lagoa Santa
, and dedicated the next eight years to excavating, collecting, classifying and studying more than 20,000 bones of extinct species, including mastodons and ground sloth
s. With him was the Norwegian painter Peter Andreas Brandt who assisted him throughout his work as an illustrator. He was also assisted by the Danish botanist Eugen Warming
from 1839 to 1859.
Lund was the first to describe dozens of species, among them the world-famous Saber-toothed cat Smilodon populator. His exploration took place mainly in the region of Lagoa Santa
, which is rich in caves and karst
formations and nowadays comprises the northern part of Greater Belo Horizonte
. He was also one of the first to recognize, appreciate and record prehistoric rock and cave paintings
in South America.
Then in 1843, Lund made a remarkable discovery. During a severe drought, he discovered, deep in a flooded cave, fossilized skulls and bones of 30 human beings. Since these individuals were found among the remains of long-extinct species. This finding led him to realize that humans and the prehistoric animals had co-existed, something which was in frontal opposition to Cuvier's catastrophic theory.
The next 35 years were spent exchanging letters with the curators of his collections in Copenhagen, as well as receiving the visits of young European naturalists. The complete study of his collections, E Museo Lundii, was published only in 1888.
While living in Lagoa Santa, he hosted several European naturalists, such as the Danish botanist Eugenius Warming
. Lund never married and died in Lagoa Santa three weeks before completing the age of 79.
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
paleontologist, zoologist, archeologist and who spent most of his life working and living in Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
. He is considered the father of Brazilian paleontology as well as archeology.
He was the first to describe dozens of species of pre-historic Pleistocene
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene is the epoch from 2,588,000 to 11,700 years BP that spans the world's recent period of repeated glaciations. The name pleistocene is derived from the Greek and ....
megafauna
Megafauna
In terrestrial zoology, megafauna are "giant", "very large" or "large" animals. The most common thresholds used are or...
, including the fabled Saber-toothed cat Smilodon populator. He also made the then ground-breaking, discovery that humans co-existed with the long-extinct animal species, something which possibly prompted him to terminate his scientific work. His comprehensive collections are today found at the Danish Natural History Museum in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
.
Early life and education
Peter Wilhelm Lund was born into a wealthy family in CopenhagenCopenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
. He showed an early interest in the natural science and was working towards a career in medicine but following the death of his father, his passion for natural history prompted him instead to opt for that study at the University of Copenhagen
University of Copenhagen
The University of Copenhagen is the oldest and largest university and research institution in Denmark. Founded in 1479, it has more than 37,000 students, the majority of whom are female , and more than 7,000 employees. The university has several campuses located in and around Copenhagen, with the...
. Already as a student, he wrote two prize-winning dissertations. One of them, published in German, won him international recognition.
First trip to Brazil and return to Europe
Due to a beginning tuberculosisTuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
, he travelled to Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
in 1825 and spend the following three and a half years collecting specimens of plants, birds and insects in the area around Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
, and writing about ants, snails and birds of the region.
Back in Europe in 1829, he achieved a doctoral degree at the University of Kiel
University of Kiel
The University of Kiel is a university in the city of Kiel, Germany. It was founded in 1665 as the Academia Holsatorum Chiloniensis by Christian Albert, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp and has approximately 23,000 students today...
, traveled to Italy and later established himself in Paris, where he came under the influence of Georges Cuvier
Georges Cuvier
Georges Chrétien Léopold Dagobert Cuvier or Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric Cuvier , known as Georges Cuvier, was a French naturalist and zoologist...
, professor of comparative anatomy
Comparative anatomy
Comparative anatomy is the study of similarities and differences in the anatomy of organisms. It is closely related to evolutionary biology and phylogeny .-Description:...
at the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle
Muséum national d'histoire naturelle
The Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle is the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, France.- History :The museum was formally founded on 10 June 1793, during the French Revolution...
and the most influential 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...
and zoologist of the time.
In his Discours sur les révolutions de la surface du globe (1825), Cuvier theorized that the extinction of species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
was caused by natural catastrophes in certain regions of the world. When that happens, the fauna
Fauna
Fauna or faunæ is all of the animal life of any particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is flora.Zoologists and paleontologists use fauna to refer to a typical collection of animals found in a specific time or place, e.g. the "Sonoran Desert fauna" or the "Burgess shale fauna"...
from other regions migrate to populate the now uninhabited area. This became known as the catastrophic theory, and would become the motto of Lund's scientific career.
Return to Brazil and turn to paleontology
In 1832 Lund returned to Brazil never to return to Europe. He spent the first two years collecting mainly botanical specimens in the provinces of Rio de Janeiro and São PauloSão Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
. Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
also passed through Rio in 1832 but it is unknown whether the two naturalists met.
Then in 1835, Lund traveling inland through the province of Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais is one of the 26 states of Brazil, of which it is the second most populous, the third richest, and the fourth largest in area. Minas Gerais is the Brazilian state with the largest number of Presidents of Brazil, the current one, Dilma Rousseff, being one of them. The capital is the...
, and in Lagoa, an area characterised by a peculiar Karst geology, discovered several caves full of fossilized bones from extinct Ice Age
Ice age
An ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers...
megafauna
Megafauna
In terrestrial zoology, megafauna are "giant", "very large" or "large" animals. The most common thresholds used are or...
species. He eventually settled in the small town of Lagoa Santa
Lagoa Santa
For Lagoa Santa, a municipality in Goiás see Lagoa Santa, GoiásLagoa Santa is a municipality and region in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil...
, and dedicated the next eight years to excavating, collecting, classifying and studying more than 20,000 bones of extinct species, including mastodons and ground sloth
Ground sloth
Ground sloths are a diverse group of extinct sloths, in the mammalian superorder Xenarthra. Their most recent survivors lived in the Antilles, where it has been proposed they may have survived until 1550 CE; however, the youngest AMS radiocarbon date reported is 4190 BP, calibrated to c. 4700 BP...
s. With him was the Norwegian painter Peter Andreas Brandt who assisted him throughout his work as an illustrator. He was also assisted by the Danish botanist Eugen Warming
Eugenius Warming
Johannes Eugenius Bülow Warming , known as Eugen Warming, was a Danish botanist and a main founding figure of the scientific discipline of ecology...
from 1839 to 1859.
Lund was the first to describe dozens of species, among them the world-famous Saber-toothed cat Smilodon populator. His exploration took place mainly in the region of Lagoa Santa
Lagoa Santa
For Lagoa Santa, a municipality in Goiás see Lagoa Santa, GoiásLagoa Santa is a municipality and region in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil...
, which is rich in caves and karst
KARST
Kilometer-square Area Radio Synthesis Telescope is a Chinese telescope project to which FAST is a forerunner. KARST is a set of large spherical reflectors on karst landforms, which are bowlshaped limestone sinkholes named after the Kras region in Slovenia and Northern Italy. It will consist of...
formations and nowadays comprises the northern part of Greater Belo Horizonte
Belo Horizonte
Belo Horizonte is the capital of and largest city in the state of Minas Gerais, located in the southeastern region of Brazil. It is the third largest metropolitan area in the country...
. He was also one of the first to recognize, appreciate and record prehistoric rock and cave paintings
Cave painting
Cave paintings are paintings on cave walls and ceilings, and the term is used especially for those dating to prehistoric times. The earliest European cave paintings date to the Aurignacian, some 32,000 years ago. The purpose of the paleolithic cave paintings is not known...
in South America.
Then in 1843, Lund made a remarkable discovery. During a severe drought, he discovered, deep in a flooded cave, fossilized skulls and bones of 30 human beings. Since these individuals were found among the remains of long-extinct species. This finding led him to realize that humans and the prehistoric animals had co-existed, something which was in frontal opposition to Cuvier's catastrophic theory.
Early retirement and late life
Only a year after his ground-breaking finds of human remains, Lund suddenly stopped the work in the caves, alleging lack of resources to finance the excavations. He then donated his huge collection to the king and the people of Denmark. Alleging this time a fragile health condition, he decided to stay in Lagoa Santa, never to return to Europe. Whereas Lund possibly took badly to his own findings, Darwin embraced them with enthusiasm.The next 35 years were spent exchanging letters with the curators of his collections in Copenhagen, as well as receiving the visits of young European naturalists. The complete study of his collections, E Museo Lundii, was published only in 1888.
While living in Lagoa Santa, he hosted several European naturalists, such as the Danish botanist Eugenius Warming
Eugenius Warming
Johannes Eugenius Bülow Warming , known as Eugen Warming, was a Danish botanist and a main founding figure of the scientific discipline of ecology...
. Lund never married and died in Lagoa Santa three weeks before completing the age of 79.
Legacy
The journal Lundiana is named in his honour http://www.icb.ufmg.br/~lundiana/, as is a town in Lagoa Santa. Lund is considered the "Father of Brazilian paleontology and archeology." His voluminous correspondence with Brazilian scientists and institutions is still uncollected.Cultural references
- Danish writer Henrik Stangerup's novel The Road to Lagoa Santa is a fictional account of Lund's life, focussing on his early and sudden retirement which is thought to have been motivated by religious doubts caused by his scientific findings.