Francesco Todaro (14 February 1839 – 22 October 1918) was an Italian

anatomist Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having its ...

born in

Tripi Tripi is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Messina, Sicily, southern Italy. It is located on the site of Abacaenum, an ancient Sicel town. Public transport Railways ''Novara-Montalbano-Furnari railway station'' is on the Palerm ...

, a village in the

province of Messina Messina (, ) was a province in the autonomous island region of Sicily in Italy. Its capital was the city of Messina. It was replaced by the Metropolitan City of Messina. Geography Territory It had an area of , which amounts to 12.6 percent o ...

. He taught classes in anatomy as Professor at the Universities of

Messina Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 inhabitants in ...

and

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

.Francesco Todaro
@

Who Named It ''Whonamedit?'' is an online English-language dictionary of medical eponyms and the people associated with their identification. Though it is a dictionary, many eponyms and persons are presented in extensive articles with comprehensive bibliograph ...

In his anatomical studies on the structure of the

heart The heart is a muscular organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as carbon dioxide t ...

, he described a fibrous extension of the

Eustachian valve The valve of the inferior vena cava (eustachian valve) is a venous valve that lies at the junction of the inferior vena cava and right atrium. Development In prenatal development, the eustachian valve helps direct the flow of oxygen-rich blood ...

, now referred to as the "

tendon of Todaro The chordae tendineae (tendinous cords), colloquially known as the heart strings, are inelastic cords of fibrous connective tissue that connect the papillary muscles to the tricuspid valve and the mitral valve in the heart. Structure The chorda ...

". In the field of

zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

, he conducted extensive studies on a variety of

tunicates A tunicate is a marine invertebrate animal, a member of the subphylum Tunicata (). It is part of the Chordata, a phylum which includes all animals with dorsal nerve cords and notochords (including vertebrates). The subphylum was at one time ca ...

known as

salp A salp (plural salps, also known colloquially as “sea grape”) or salpa (plural salpae or salpas) is a barrel-shaped, planktic tunicate. It moves by contracting, thereby pumping water through its gelatinous body, one of the most efficient ...

s. In 1874 he became a member of the " Nazionale dei Lincei".

Written works

* ''Sopra la struttura delle orecchiette del cuore umano'' (1865) - On the structure of the auricles of the human heart. * ''Lo sviluppo e l'anatomia delle Salpe'' (1885) - The development and anatomy of salps.

References

Encyclopedia Treccani.it
(biography) {{DEFAULTSORT:Todaro, Francesco 1839 births 1918 deaths Physicians from Sicily Members of the Senate of the Kingdom of Italy Italian anatomists Academic staff of the Sapienza University of Rome Academic staff of the University of Messina