Florentino Ameghino

Infobox Scientist
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caption =Florentino Ameghino (in the 1890s)
birth_date = September 18 1854
birth_place = Luján
death_date = August 6,1911
death_place = Buenos Aires
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nationality = Argentine
ethnicity =
field =paleontologist
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Florentino Ameghino (September 18 1854 – August 6,1911) was an Argentine naturalist, paleontologist, anthropologist and zoologist.

Born in Luján of Italian immigrants (some sources state he himself was born in Italy), Ameghino was a self-taught naturalist, and focused his study on the lands of the southern Pampas. He formed one of the largest collections of fossils of the world at the time, which served him as base for numerous geological and paleontological studies. He also investigated the possible presence of prehistoric man in the Pampas and made several controversial claims about human origins in South America.Ameghino was appointed professor of zoology at the University of Córdoba, subdirector of the La Plata Museum, and director of the National Museum of Buenos Aires.

He died from diabetes in Buenos Aires.

The Ameghino crater on the Moon was named in his honour.

The Florentino Ameghino Partido and its head town of Ameghino, situated in the north-west of Buenos Aires Province are also named after him.

References

* cite encyclopedia
last = Garate
first = Justo
title = Ameghino, Florentino
encyclopedia = Dictionary of Scientific Biography
volume = 1
pages = 129-132
publisher = Charles Scribner's Sons
location = New York
date = 1970
isbn = 0684101149
*cite journal
quotes = yes
last=Shampo
first=M A
authorlink=
coauthors=Kyle R A
year=1987
month=Sep
title=Argentinian paleontologist contributes to the understanding of humans and the environment
journal=Mayo Clin. Proc.
volume=62
issue=9
pages=855
publisher = | location = | issn =
pmid = 3306184
bibcode = | oclc =| id = | url = | language = | laysummary = | laysource = |laydate= | quote =

External links

* [http://usuarios.advance.com.ar/lae_tor/ameghi.htm Florentino Ameghino biography] (Spanish)