Marcelo R Sánchez-Villagra, Mariano Bond, Marcelo Reguero, Tomás Bartoletti
{"title":"From fossil trader to paleontologist: on Swiss-born naturalist Santiago Roth and his scientific contributions.","authors":"Marcelo R Sánchez-Villagra, Mariano Bond, Marcelo Reguero, Tomás Bartoletti","doi":"10.1186/s13358-023-00282-6","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Roth's explorations, the resulting collections many now allocated in La Plata, Zurich, Geneva and Copenhagen, and his significant contributions in geological-especially stratigraphic-and paleontological topics, are a paradigmatic case for the global history of paleontology and for the Swiss migration history in Latin America. His work included the discovery of a diverse megafauna from the Pampean region, of sites and strata in Patagonia of paleontological significance, and the recognition of a group of endemic ungulate mammals, Notoungulata. Roth's discovery of a human skeleton associated with a glyptodont carapace is one of the first reports of the coexistence of humans with the extinct fauna of the South American Quaternary. Roth became a renowned scholar at the Museo de La Plata, which was a leading scientific institution in the nation-making of Argentina, particularly in the expansion of the Patagonian frontier. He also kept strong ties with his native Switzerland, where late in his adult life he obtained some formal training and tried to attract other Swiss nationals to work in natural sciences in Argentina. His biography sheds light about the circumstances of his scientific collection and career in the interstices between amateur and professional science, modernity and imperialism at the turn of the twentieth century.</p><p><strong>Supplementary information: </strong>The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13358-023-00282-6.</p>","PeriodicalId":56059,"journal":{"name":"Swiss Journal of Palaeontology","volume":"142 1","pages":"19"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0000,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10495517/pdf/","citationCount":"9","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Swiss Journal of Palaeontology","FirstCategoryId":"89","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s13358-023-00282-6","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2023/9/11 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"PALEONTOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 9
Abstract
Roth's explorations, the resulting collections many now allocated in La Plata, Zurich, Geneva and Copenhagen, and his significant contributions in geological-especially stratigraphic-and paleontological topics, are a paradigmatic case for the global history of paleontology and for the Swiss migration history in Latin America. His work included the discovery of a diverse megafauna from the Pampean region, of sites and strata in Patagonia of paleontological significance, and the recognition of a group of endemic ungulate mammals, Notoungulata. Roth's discovery of a human skeleton associated with a glyptodont carapace is one of the first reports of the coexistence of humans with the extinct fauna of the South American Quaternary. Roth became a renowned scholar at the Museo de La Plata, which was a leading scientific institution in the nation-making of Argentina, particularly in the expansion of the Patagonian frontier. He also kept strong ties with his native Switzerland, where late in his adult life he obtained some formal training and tried to attract other Swiss nationals to work in natural sciences in Argentina. His biography sheds light about the circumstances of his scientific collection and career in the interstices between amateur and professional science, modernity and imperialism at the turn of the twentieth century.
Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13358-023-00282-6.
罗斯的探险成果,包括许多现在分布在拉普拉塔、苏黎世、日内瓦和哥本哈根的藏品,以及他在地质学(尤其是地层学)和古生物学方面的重大贡献,是全球古生物学史和瑞士人在拉丁美洲迁移史上的典范案例。他的工作包括在潘潘地区发现了一种多样的巨型动物,在巴塔哥尼亚发现了具有古生物学意义的地点和地层,并发现了一组特有的有蹄类哺乳动物——Notoungulata。罗斯发现的一具与雕齿兽甲壳有关的人类骨骼,是人类与南美洲第四纪灭绝的动物群共存的首批报告之一。罗斯成为拉普拉塔博物馆(Museo de La Plata)的知名学者。拉普拉塔博物馆是阿根廷建国过程中,尤其是在巴塔哥尼亚边境扩张过程中,处于领先地位的科学机构。他还与他的祖国瑞士保持着密切的联系,在他成年的后期,他在那里接受了一些正式的培训,并试图吸引其他瑞士国民到阿根廷从事自然科学工作。他的传记揭示了他在二十世纪之交业余科学与专业科学、现代性与帝国主义之间的间隙中所处的科学收藏和职业环境。补充信息:在线版本包含补充资料,下载地址:10.1186/s13358-023-00282-6。
期刊介绍:
The Swiss Journal of Palaeontology publishes original research and review articles of interest to the international community in the fields of palaeontology, taxonomy and systematics, while recognising at the same time the importance of documenting high-quality palaeontological data in a regional context. Palaeobiology in combination with alpha taxonomy is a core topic of the journal.
Submitted papers should have an appeal as wide as possible, directed towards an international readership. Contributions should not have been simultaneously submitted elsewhere, and the overlap of content between related articles should be minimal. Duplications of text and the use of previously published illustrations without adequate citation are unacceptable. If a manuscript has two or more authors, both or all have to sign to confirm they all were involved in the work and have agreed to its submission. The preferred manuscript language is UK English, but consistently used US English is also acceptable. We encourage the publication of proceedings of international meetings as well as special thematic issues. Short contributions and book reviews are also accepted.
An international editorial team as well as guest editors guarantee that the thematic issues as well as all articles in regular issues are peer-reviewed and meet the highest standards.