Josefa Celsa Señaris (born 2 November 1965) is a Venezuelan

herpetologist Herpetology (from Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and caecilians (gymnophiona)) and rept ...

. She has published information about frogs and she has identified new genera and species. Señaris is the director of the La Salle Foundation's Natural History Museum (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

: ''Museo de historia natural La Salle - MhnLS'') in Caracas.

Life

Señaris was born in 1965 and she obtained a degree in biology at the

Central University of Venezuela The Central University of Venezuela (Spanish: ''Universidad Central de Venezuela''; UCV) is a public university of Venezuela located in Caracas. It is widely held to be the highest ranking institution in the country, and it also ranks 18th in L ...

and her doctorate in 2001 at the

University of Santiago de Compostela , established = , type = Public , budget = €228 million (2011) , rector = Prof. Dr. Antonio López Díaz , city = Santiago de Compostela , state = Galicia , country = Spain , undergrad = 23,835 , postgrad = 1,716 , doctoral = 2,697 ...

in Spain. She is interested in the

fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as '' biota''. Zoo ...

of Venezuela, in particular the

Guayana Region The Guayana Region is an administrative region of eastern Venezuela. History In the 1970s, after the process of forming the Political-Administrative Regions through CORDIPLAN in the government of Rafael Caldera, the Region of Guyana was f ...

where table-top mountains called

tepui A tepui , or tepuy (), is a table-top mountain or mesa found in South America, especially in Venezuela and western Guyana. The word tepui means "house of the gods" in the native tongue of the Pemon, the indigenous people who inhabit the Gran S ...

s provide habitats for

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

plant and animal species: some amphibians are known only from a single tepuy. From a geological point of view, the tepuis have been isolated for approximately 120 million years, and it has been suggested that the tepuy habitats are a "lost world" that could support relictual populations. ''The Lost World'', Conan Doyle's novel featuring living dinosaurs, may have been inspired by these mountains. However, Señaris's work suggests that in a zoological context tepuis are not as isolated as originally believed, and that some of their species are neoendemics rather than

paleoendemic Paleoendemism along with neoendemism is a possible subcategory of endemism. Paleoendemism refers to species that were formerly widespread but are now restricted to a smaller area. Neoendemism refers to species that have recently arisen, such as thro ...

s. For example, an endemic group of

tree frog A tree frog (or treefrog) is any species of frog that spends a major portion of its lifespan in trees, known as an arboreal state. Several lineages of frogs among the Neobatrachia have given rise to treefrogs, although they are not closely relat ...

s, ''

Tepuihyla ''Tepuihyla'', commonly known as Amazon tree frogs or Tepui tree frogs, is a genus of frogs in the family Hylidae found in mountains of eastern and south-eastern Venezuela and Guyana, and likely in adjacent Brazil. A tepui is a table-top mountai ...

'', have diverged after the tepuis were formed, that is,

speciation Speciation is the evolutionary process by which populations evolve to become distinct species. The biologist Orator F. Cook coined the term in 1906 for cladogenesis, the splitting of lineages, as opposed to anagenesis, phyletic evolution within ...

followed colonization from the lowlands. Señaris became the director in 2004 of the La Salle Foundation's Natural History Museum (

: ''Museo de historia natural La Salle - MhnLS'') in Caracas. Señaris has erected two

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...

(including ''Tepuihyla'' mentioned above) and described several species new to science. In many cases Señaris collaborated with two other herpetologists, José Ayarzagüena and Stefan Gorzula.José Ayarzagüena Sanz (1952–2011) was a Spanish herpetologist who specialised in Venezuelan crocodiles as well as frogs. Stefan Jan Filip Gorzula is a British-trained American.

Honours

Eponyms

In recognition of her "contributions to the knowledge of centrolenid diversity and morphology" she has had a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

glass frog The glass frogs belong to the amphibian family Centrolenidae ( order Anura). While the general background coloration of most glass frogs is primarily lime green, the abdominal skin of some members of this family is transparent and translucent, ...

, '' Celsiella'', named after her nickname which is Celsi.

Legacy

She has described a number of

taxa In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular nam ...

, in particular amphibians but also a few reptiles.

Genera

*'' Metaphryniscus'' Señaris, & Gorzula, 1994 *''

'' Ayarzagüena, Señaris & Gorzula, 1993

Species

*'' Arthrosaura testigensis'' Gorzula & Señaris, 1999 *'' Celsiella vozmedianoi'' Ayarzagüena & Señaris, 1997 *'' Cercosaura nigroventris'' Gorzula & Señaris, 1999 *'' Hyalinobatrachium guairarepanense'' Señaris, 2001 *'' Hyalinobatrachium mondolfii'' Señaris & Ayarzagüena, 2001 *'' Hypsiboas jimenezi'' Señaris & Ayarzagüena, 2006 *'' Hypsiboas rhythmicus'' Señaris & Ayarzagüena, 2002 *'' Metaphryniscus sosai'' Señaris, Ayarzagüena & Gorzula, 1994 *''

Myersiohyla aromatica ''Myersiohyla aromatica'' is a species of frog in the family Hylidae endemic to Venezuela. Known only from one tepuy, Cerro Huachamacari, its natural habitats are classed as subtropical or tropical moist montane forests and river A riv ...

'' Ayarzagüena & Señaris, 1994 *''

Myersiohyla inparquesi ''Myersiohyla inparquesi'' is a species of frog in the family Hylidae. It appears to be endemic to the summit of Cerro Marahuaca, a tepui in central Amazonas state, Venezuela. Its natural habitats are tepui shrub and forests. Tadpole A t ...

'' Ayarzagüena & Señaris, 1994 *'' Oreophrynella cryptica'' Señaris, 1995 Oreophrynella nigra crop

*'' Oreophrynella nigra'' Señaris, Ayarzagüena & Gorzula, 1994 *'' Oreophrynella vasquezi'' Señaris, Ayarzagüena & Gorzula, 1994 *''

Oreophrynella weiassipuensis ''Oreophrynella weiassipuensis'' is a species of toads in the family Bufonidae. It is only known from Wei-Assipu-tepui, a tepui on the border between Brazil and Guyana. The holotype was collected in 2000 by a speleological expedition to Wei-Assi ...

'' Señaris, Nascimento & Villarreal, 2005 *'' Riolama uzzelli'' Molina & Señaris, 2003 *''

Stefania oculosa ''Stefania oculosa'' (common name in es, rana stefania de ojos grandes) is a species of frog in the family Hemiphractidae. It is endemic to the Bolívar state of southern Venezuela and only known from Cerro Jaua, a tepui; it possibly occurs mor ...