Dr. Marc van Roosmalen (born June 23, 1947) is a Dutch-Brazilian primatologist. He was elected as one of the "Heroes of the Planet" by ''Time'' magazine in 2000. His research has led to the identification of several new monkey species, as well as other animals and plants, although some of these identifications are challenged as dubious, unconvincing, or contradictory to the evidence. He is also an activist in the protection of the Brazilian rainforest. Van Roosmalen was awarded the

honour Honour (British English) or honor (American English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) is the idea of a bond between an individual and a society as a quality of a person that is both of socia ...

of officer in the

Order of the Golden Ark The Most Excellent Order of the Golden Ark ( nl, Orde van de Gouden Ark) is a Dutch order of merit established in 1971 by Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands. It is awarded to people for major contributions to nature conservation. Although not ...

Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. ...

in 1997.

Career

Van Roosmalen studied biology at the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...

and did four years of doctoral fieldwork beginning in 1976 studying the red-faced spider monkey in

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...

. He later did two more years of work in

French Guiana French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic ...

, following which he published the book ''Fruits of the Guianan Flora''. In 1986 he was hired by the

INPA The National Institute of Amazonian Research (Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia or INPA) is a public educational and research institution headquartered in Manaus, Brazil. It was founded in 1952, with the purpose of furthering scientific ...

(Brazilian National Institute of Amazonian Research, where he initially thrived. During this period, he launched a

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

focused on creating wilderness preserves in the deep Amazon. He became a naturalized Brazilian citizen in 1997. Marc considers

Alfred Russel Wallace Alfred Russel Wallace (8 January 1823 – 7 November 1913) was a British naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist, biologist and illustrator. He is best known for independently conceiving the theory of evolution through natural se ...

a hero and is an advocate of Wallace's "river barrier" hypothesis that the major rivers of the Amazonian basin serve as barriers that create separate genetically distinct evolutionary regions.

Personal life

Marc grew up in

Tilburg Tilburg () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, in the southern province of North Brabant. With a population of 222,601 (1 July 2021), it is the second-largest city or municipality in North Brabant after Eindhoven and the seventh-larg ...

, a city in the southern part of the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. His father was a chemist. He met and married his first wife while living in

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...

, where he had moved for school at age 17. They had two sons. In early 2008, he divorced his first wife and married his Brazilian girlfriend.

Publications (selection)

* ''Wild Fruits from the Amazon'', CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2013, Vol. I , Plates, Paperback, * ''Wild Fruits from the Amazon'', CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2015, Vol. II , Plates, Paperback, * ''Wild Fruits from the Amazon'', CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2017, Vol. III , Plates, Paperback, * ''Barefoot through the Amazon – On the Path of Evolution'', CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2013, Paperback, * ''A Shaman’s Apprentice - Traditional Healing in the Brazilian Amazon'', CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2013, Vol. III, Paperback * ''On the Origin of Allopatric Primate Species and the Principle of Metachromic Bleaching'', CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2013, , co-authored by Dr. Tomas van Roosmalen * ''Distributions and Phylogeography of Neotropical Primates'', CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2014, Paperback, , co-authored by Dr. Tomas van Roosmalen * ''On the Origin of Allopatric Primate Species'', 2016, Biodiversity Journal, vol. 7, no. 1, p. 117-19

(Print Edition) (Online Edition), co-authored with Tomas van Roosmalen * ''Live from the Amazon'', CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2015, Paperback, * ''Black Gold: Pre-Columbian Farming on Terra Preta Anthrosol in the Amazon'', CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2016, Paperback,

Controversies

In 2002, he was fined by the

IBAMA Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources ( pt, Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis, IBAMA) is the Brazilian Ministry of the Environment's administrative arm. IBAMA supports anti-d ...

(Brazilian Ministry of the Environment's Enforcement Agency) for illegal transportation of monkeys and

orchids Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...

from the unexplored Amazonian region of Serra do Aracá. In April 2003, Roosmalen was fired from his job with the INPA for illegally exportation of environmental genetic samples to outside Brazil.Pesquisador holandês é condenado no Amazonas.
- Folha Online Around this time, the board of the NGO removed him as president and removed its resources from his control. In 2007, he was arrested by the Brazilian government for illegally keeping orphaned monkeys in a monkey refuge at his house in the Amazon and for misappropriation of Brazilian public funds. He was sentenced to nearly 16 years in prison. Van Roosmalen claims that he applied for permits for his monkey preserve. The bulk of his sentence was for an embezzling charge after he was accused of stealing scaffolding tower in 1996. He was placed in the notorious Raimundo Vidal Pessoa Penitentiary. At one point Van Roosmalen shared a cell with two violent crack addicts whose drug debts he paid.Why Does This Prominent Amazon Researcher Face 14 Years in Prison for Biopiracy?
- Wired Article He is currently free on appeal. Van Roosmalen told a ''

Wired ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San Fra ...

'' news reporter that he has a video of two ex-policemen knocking on his door immediately after tucking revolvers into their pants. Believing that he would be killed if he stayed, he and his partner Vivi went on the run with no plans to return to their home in

Manaus Manaus () is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Amazonas. It is the seventh-largest city in Brazil, with an estimated 2020 population of 2,219,580 distributed over a land area of about . Located at the east center of the s ...

as of May 2008. Marc van Roosmalen was appointed as a Distinguished Scholar in Residence for the 2010-2011 academic year at Bard College.

Roosmalen's dwarf porcupine Roosmalen's dwarf porcupine (''Coendou roosmalenorum'') is a porcupine species from the New World porcupine family likely endemic to northern Brazil. Only three specimens were known at the time, and only one had a collection locality. It is name ...

and

Roosmalens' dwarf marmoset The Roosmalens' dwarf marmoset (''Mico humilis''), also known as the black-crowned dwarf marmoset, is a small New World monkey native to the Amazon Rainforest, on the east bank of the lower Madeira River, and the west bank of the Aripuanã Rive ...

are discovered by and named after him. He named the

Prince Bernhard's titi Prince Bernhard's titi monkey (''Plecturocebus bernhardi''), also called the zog-zog monkey, is a species of titi monkey in the genus ''Plecturocebus'', first described in 2002. It is named after Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands. They have var ...

after

, co-founder and former president of the WWF.

References

External links

Marc van Roosmalen Foundation
(in Dutch) {{DEFAULTSORT:Roosmalen, Marc van 1947 births Living people People from Tilburg Dutch zoologists Dutch emigrants to Brazil Brazilian people of Dutch descent Brazilian environmentalists Brazilian zoologists Naturalized citizens of Brazil Primatologists Poachers University of Amsterdam alumni People with acquired Brazilian citizenship People from Manaus