Mario Giacinto Peracca

Mario Giacinto Peracca (1861-1923)

Mario Giacomo Peracca (born November 21, 1861 in Turin ; † May 23, 1923 ibid) was an Italian herpetologist .

Live and act

Peracca's interest in zoology was aroused by his father, who was an amateur orithologist. He began studying medicine at the University of Turin , but soon switched to zoology. Under the direction of the zoologist Michele Lessona , author of several monographs on the Italian herpetofauna , Peracca obtained his doctorate in 1886 . In his early days as a student, Peracca was Lessona's assistant, and in 1887 he became a research assistant at the Zoological Institute of the University of Turin. He held this post until Lorenzo Camerano took over the management of Lessona. Camerano was also one of the leading Italian herpetologists, who from 1883 to 1891 published the first modern monograph on the amphibians and reptiles of Italy in five volumes. Until his departure in 1920, Peracca was the curator of the herpetological collection of the Zoological Institute. He enlarged the collection by buying samples from collectors around the world or by exchanging them with other museums. Many specimens also came from his country estate, where he had a large, air-conditioned vivarium built with lush tropical plants. Here he kept Galapagos turtles , giant salamanders and native and exotic species. Peracca conducted studies of live animals, most of which were never published. Although Peracca was noble, his life was modest. He donated his wealth to zoological research.

Peracca was close friends with George Albert Boulenger . From 1886 to 1917 he published about 55 specialist articles, almost all of which dealt with herpetology. Some are about Italian species, the vast majority describing the collections he had received from South America and Africa, including Madagascar, the Middle East, China and Australia. Peracca described at least 27 reptile and several amphibian species. He donated his collections to the Zoological Institute of the University of Turin.

Dedication names

George Albert Boulenger honored Perraca in the epithet of the following species: Mantidactylus peraccae , Anolis peraccae and Lepidoblepharis peraccae .

Fonts (selection)

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

literature

• The Life and Herpetological Contributions of Mario Giacinto Peracca (1861-1923) , Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, 2007, 570 pp.
• Kraig Adler, John S. Applegarth, Ronald Altig: Contributions to the History of Herpetology. (= Contributions to herpetology. 5). Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, 1989, ISBN 0-916984-19-2 , p. 66.