Boris Sket (30 July 1936 – 7 May 2023) was a Slovenian

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 ...

and speleobiologist. Sket obtained his doctorate at the

University of Ljubljana The University of Ljubljana (, , ), abbreviated UL, is the oldest and largest university in Slovenia. It has approximately 38,000 enrolled students. The university has 23 faculties and three art academies with approximately 4,000 teaching and re ...

in 1961 and became a research assistant at the former Natural sciences faculty. In 1965, he became an

invertebrate zoology Invertebrate zoology is the subdiscipline of zoology that consists of the study of invertebrates, animals without a backbone (a structure which is found only in fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals). Invertebrates are a vast and very dive ...

professor at the Biotechnical faculty in Ljubljana and remained at this position until 2006. Between 1983 and 1985, Sket served as a dean of the Biotechnical faculty, and later, between 1989 and 1991, as the 37th rector of the University of Ljubljana. He was retired as a scientific councillor and still lecturing speleobiology to graduate and post-graduate students. His research focuses on the faunistics of troglobionts and

biospeleology Biospeleology, also known as cave biology, is a branch of biology dedicated to the study of organisms that live in caves and are collectively referred to as troglofauna. Biospeleology as a science History The first documented mention of a ...

in general. He described over a hundred new

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), ...

, some

genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

and a family of invertebrates, mostly

crustacean Crustaceans (from Latin meaning: "those with shells" or "crusted ones") are invertebrate animals that constitute one group of arthropods that are traditionally a part of the subphylum Crustacea (), a large, diverse group of mainly aquatic arthrop ...

s and

leech Leeches are segmented parasitism, parasitic or Predation, predatory worms that comprise the Class (biology), subclass Hirudinea within the phylum Annelida. They are closely related to the Oligochaeta, oligochaetes, which include the earthwor ...

es. A new biogeographic classification of Dinaric cave fauna. First ecological investigations of anchihaline fauna. Sket joined the ranks of Ljubljana Cave Exploration Society (DZRJL) in 1950 and in 1964 he discovered Borisov rov oris Tunnel an important part of Najdena jama cave. While the focus of his research was the

cave fauna Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance underground (such as rock sh ...

of the Dinaric karst, he also took part in cave explorations in other areas such as Ecuador, Galapagos islands, Colombia, Crete island, The Philippines, Florida, Bermudas, Kenya and China. Sket was the president of the Caving Association of Slovenia, the president of the International Society of Subterranean Biology. He also served in editorial boards of several scholarly journals and was a subject field editor of the 'megajournal' ''Zootaxa''. In 2011, Sket became a member of the

Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts The Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts ( (SAZU)) is the national academy of Slovenia, which encompasses science and the arts and brings together the top Slovene researchers and artists as members of the academy. Cultural significance Establis ...

. Additionally, he was a foreign member of the

Academy of Sciences and Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Academy of Sciences and Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina (; ) is the national academy of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Academy, based in the capital city of Sarajevo, is the leading non-university public research institution in the country. The ...

. Holder of some national awards and medals. Approximately 35 animal species are named ''sketi'', and three genera. Sket died on 7 May 2023, at the age of 86.

References

Glej tudi

* List of Slovenian biologists

External links

Official page
1936 births 2023 deaths Slovenian zoologists Slovenian academics University of Ljubljana alumni Academic staff of the University of Ljubljana Members of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts Scientists from Ljubljana Members of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina {{zoologist-stub