Alfredo Borelli (18 November 1858, in

Marseilles Marseille (; ; see below) is a city in southern France, the prefecture of the department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the Provence region, it is located on the coast of the Mediterranean S ...

– 6 May 1943, in

Boves, Piedmont Boves is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region Piedmont, located about south of Turin and about south of Cuneo. It borders the following municipalities: Borgo San Dalmazzo, Cuneo, Limone Piemonte, Peverag ...

) was a

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

-born

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

zoologist Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoology is one ...

, who worked mainly in

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

but who, early in his natural history career, conducted field work in South America. Borelli graduated in law from Aix University in 1888 and practised as a lawyer in Marseilles for a while before deciding to follow his interest in the natural sciences, going to his family's home country of Italy and graduating from the

University of Turin The University of Turin (Italian language, Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Torino'', UNITO) is a public university, public research university in the city of Turin, in the Piedmont (Italy), Piedmont region of Italy. It is one of the List ...

in 1886. He worked in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

and

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

but most of his scientific career was spent at the institute of zoology of the University of Turin, from where he retired in 1930. He worked at the '' Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali di Torino'' from 1900 to 1913. The

gecko Geckos are small, mostly carnivorous lizards that have a wide distribution, found on every continent except Antarctica. Belonging to the infraorder Gekkota, geckos are found in warm climates. They range from . Geckos are unique among lizards ...

'' Homonota borellii'', the

amphisbaenian Amphisbaenia (called amphisbaenians or worm lizards) is a group of typically legless lizards, comprising over 200 extant species. Amphisbaenians are characterized by their long bodies, the reduction or loss of the limbs, and rudimentary eyes. As ...

'' Amphisbaena borelli'', the millipede ''Urostreptus borellii'' (Silvestri, 1895) and the

cichlid Cichlids () are a large, diverse, and widespread family of percomorph fish in the family Cichlidae, order Cichliformes. At least 1,760 species have been scientifically described, making it one of the largest vertebrate families, with on ...

'' Apistogramma borellii'' are among the taxa named in honor of Borelli. He carried out field work in Bolivia, Argentina, and Paraguay where he collected specimens, and many of his specimens were described by

Mario Giacinto Peracca Mario Giacinto Peracca (21 November 1861, Turin – 23 May 1923, Turin) was an Italian herpetologist. He discovered zoology through his father, an amateur ornithologist. He started taking medical classes at the University of Turin, with his studi ...

. (in Italian)

Taxon named in his honor

'' Hypostomus borellii'' is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

catfish Catfish (or catfishes; order (biology), order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Catfish are common name, named for their prominent barbel (anatomy), barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, though not ...

in the family

Loricariidae Loricariidae is the largest family (biology), family of catfish (order Siluriformes), with over 90 genus, genera and just over 680 species. Loricariids originate from freshwater habitats of Costa Rica, Panama, and tropical and subtropical South A ...

. It is native to the upper and middle

Pilcomayo River Pilcomayo (in Hispanicized spelling) ( Quechua Pillkumayu or Pillku Mayu, ''pillku'' red, ''mayu'' river, "red river", Guarani Ysyry Araguay ) is a river in central South America. At long, it is the longest western tributary of the Paraguay Riv ...

basin in Argentina, Uruguay, and Bolivia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Borelli, A Italian zoologists 1858 births 1943 deaths French emigrants to Italy