João Moojen de Oliveira (December 1, 1904 in Leopoldina, MG, Brazil – March 31, 1985 in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, RJ, Brazil) was a zoologist dedicated to the

systematics Systematics is the study of the diversification of living forms, both past and present, and the relationships among living things through time. Relationships are visualized as evolutionary trees (synonyms: phylogenetic trees, phylogenies). Phy ...

of Brazilian mammals, particularly

rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the Order (biology), order Rodentia ( ), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and Mandible, lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal specie ...

s and

primate Primates is an order (biology), order of mammals, which is further divided into the Strepsirrhini, strepsirrhines, which include lemurs, galagos, and Lorisidae, lorisids; and the Haplorhini, haplorhines, which include Tarsiiformes, tarsiers a ...

s. He was also interested in birds. He collected extensively between the 1930s and 50s and wrote "Os Roedores do Brasil" in 1952, a key book on Brazilian rodents. He was an authority on spiny rats of the genus ''

Phyllomys ''Phyllomys'' is a genus of arboreal Echimyidae, spiny rat, geographically restricted to the forests of eastern Brazil. The etymology of the genus name derives from the two ancient greek words (), meaning "plant leaf", and (), meaning "mouse, ...

''. As well as performing research, Moojen worked significantly as a teacher and technical advisor; positions held include: head of the Biology Department of Escola Superior de Agricultura e Veterinária do Estado de Minas Gerais, in Viçosa; Professor-Head of Natural History of Colégio Universitário da Universidade do Brasil; Naturalist of Vertebrate and Invertebrate Zoology Division of Museu Nacional including headed this division into two stages and collected most of the mammals deposited in this collection and in Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro; zoologist of the Rockefeller Foundation; member of Society of the

Sigma Xi Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society () is an international non-profit honor society for scientists and engineers. Sigma Xi was founded at Cornell University by a faculty member and graduate students in 1886 and is one of the oldest ...

for the Promotion of Research in Science, the American Society of Mammalogists, the Cooper Ornithological Club and

Phi Sigma Phi Sigma () is an honor society for students of biological sciences, formed at Ohio State University. History The Phi Sigma honor society was founded on March 17, 1915, at Ohio State University to honor excellence in biological research. In 192 ...

Biological Society; commissioned by the Federal Government to organize the

Brasília Brasília ( ; ) is the capital city, capital of Brazil and Federal District (Brazil), Federal District. Located in the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region, it was founded by President Juscelino ...

Zoo-Botanical, and was also Director of the Department for Nature Protection of Brasília.

Genus and species of Rodents described by Moojen

Genus * ''

Juscelinomys ''Juscelinomys'' is a genus of burrowing mice. The name is derived from Brazilian president Juscelino Kubitschek who created the city of Brasília where the Brasília burrowing mouse was discovered. There are two living species: * †''J. can ...

'' Moojen, 1965 Species and sub-species * '' Trinomys paratus'' Moojen, 1948 * '' Trinomys gratiosus'' Moojen, 1948 ** ''T. g. gratiosus'' Moojen, 1948 ** ''T. g. bonafidei'' Moojen, 1948 * '' Phyllomys kerri'' Moojen, 1950 * ''

Juscelinomys candango The candango mouse or candango akodont (''Juscelinomys candango'') is an Extinction, extinct rodent species from South America. It was found around Brasília until the 1960s when its habitat was overtaken by urban sprawl and it is now presumed e ...

'' Moojen, 1965 * ''

Kerodon acrobata The acrobatic cavy (''Kerodon acrobata'') also known as the acrobatic moco and climbing cavy is a Caviidae, cavy species native to Brazil. It is found from Goiás state to Tocantins state, west of the Espigão Mestre, Serra Geral de Goiás, and is ...

'' Moojen, Locks & Langguth, 1997

Genus and species in honor of Moojen

Source: * Pisces – Characidae: ''Moojenichthys'' Ribeiro, 1956 * Opilionida – Gonyleptidae: ''Moojenia'' Mello Leitão, 1935 * Diplopoda – Vanhoeffeniidae: ''Moojenodesmus'' Schubart, 1944 * Reptilia – Viperidae: ''

Bothrops moojeni ''Bothrops moojeni'', commonly known in English as the Brazilian lancehead, is a highly venomous species of snake in the family Viperidae. McDiarmid RW, Campbell JA, Touré TA (1999). ''Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic R ...

'' Hoge, 1965 * Scorpinida – Bothriuridae: ''Bothriurus moojeni'' Mello Leitão, 1945 * Scolopendromorpha – Scolopendridae: ''Scolopendra angulata'' moojeni Bücherl, 1941 * Rodentia – Echimyidae: ''Trinomys moojeni'' Pessôa, Oliveira & Reis, 1992 * Rodenia – Cricetidae: ''

Oligoryzomys moojeni ''Oligoryzomys moojeni'' is a species of rodent from South America in the genus ''Oligoryzomys'' of family Cricetidae. It is known only from central Brazil, where it is found in the cerrado and gallery forests. It is named after twentieth-century ...

'' Weksler & Bonvicino, 2005

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moojen, Joao 1904 births 1985 deaths 20th-century Brazilian zoologists People from Leopoldina, Minas Gerais Brazilian mammalogists