Mario Giacinto Peracca (21 November 1861,

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 ...

– 23 May 1923, Turin) was an Italian

herpetologist Herpetology (from Ancient Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is a branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, salamanders, and caecilians (Gymnophiona)) and reptiles (in ...

. He discovered

zoology Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...

through his father, an amateur

ornithologist Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is a branch of zoology dedicated to the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related discip ...

. He started taking medical classes at 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 ...

, with his studies eventually turning to zoology. In 1886, he obtained his degree from the university under the direction of

Michele Lessona Michele Lessona (20 September 1823, Venaria Reale, Piedmont – 20 July 1894, Turin) was an Italian zoologist. Michele Lessona became a specialist in amphibians. His accomplishments include translating certain works of Darwin, for example, ''Th ...

(1823–1894). After graduation, he remained in Turin as an assistant to Lessona, and later Lorenzo Camerano (1856–1917), at the zoological institute. Here he worked until his retirement in 1920. At the zoological institute, he served as

curator A curator (from , meaning 'to take care') is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the particular ins ...

of herpetological collections. Among the specimens at the museum were

reptiles Reptiles, as commonly defined, are a group of tetrapods with an ectothermic metabolism and Amniotic egg, amniotic development. Living traditional reptiles comprise four Order (biology), orders: Testudines, Crocodilia, Squamata, and Rhynchocepha ...

and

amphibians Amphibians are ectothermic, anamniote, anamniotic, tetrapod, four-limbed vertebrate animals that constitute the class (biology), class Amphibia. In its broadest sense, it is a paraphyletic group encompassing all Tetrapod, tetrapods, but excl ...

that were produced at his estate, where he kept a large temperature-controlled

vivarium A vivarium (; or vivariums) is an area, usually enclosed, for keeping and raising animals or plants for observation or research. Water-based vivaria may have open tops providing they are not connected to other water bodies. An animal enclosur ...

with tropical plants, containing animals that included giant

salamanders Salamanders are a group of amphibians typically characterized by their lizard-like appearance, with slender bodies, blunt snouts, short limbs projecting at right angles to the body, and the presence of a tail in both larvae and adults. All t ...

and Galapagos tortoises. Many of his written works dealt with herpetological collections from

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

and Africa (including

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

), with some publications on specimens from Italy, the Middle East, China and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. He was the

taxonomic authority In biology, taxonomy () is the scientific study of naming, defining ( circumscribing) and classifying groups of biological organisms based on shared characteristics. Organisms are grouped into taxa (singular: taxon), and these groups are given ...

of numerous reptile and amphibian species, and has several species named after him, such as Peracca's clawed frog (''Xenopus clivii)'', '' Mantidactylus peraccae'', '' Anolis peraccae'', Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (Peracca, p. 202). and '' Lepidoblepharis peraccae'', the latter three species being described by his friend,

George Albert Boulenger George Albert Boulenger (19 October 1858 – 23 November 1937) was a Belgian-British zoologist who described and gave scientific names to over 2,000 new animal species, chiefly fish, reptiles, and amphibians. Boulenger was also an active botani ...

(1858–1937).

Publications

*''Descrizione di nuove specie di Rettili e Anfibi di Madagascar'', 1892. (in Italian). *''Viaggio del Dr. Enrico Festa nella Repubblica dell'Ecuador e regioni vicine. VI. Rettili'', 1897. (in Italian). *''Viaggio del Dr. Enrico Festa nell'Ecuador e regioni vicine. Rettili ed Anfibi'', 1904. (in Italian).

Bibliography

*"The Life and Herpetological Contributions of Mario Giacinto Peracca (1861–1923)", Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, 2007, 570 pp.Google Books
The Life and Herpetological Contributions of Mario Giacinto Peracca (1861–1923).

References

External links

SSARHerps
(biography). {{DEFAULTSORT:Peracca, Mario Giacinto Italian zoologists Scientists from Turin University of Turin alumni 1861 births 1923 deaths

Publications

Bibliography

See also

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