Miguel Carlos Francisco Alvarez del Toro (23 August 1917–2 August 1996) was a Mexican biologist
who worked in the state of
Chiapas as head of the Institute of Natural History. He was the first Mexican
conservationist.
Career
He was born in
Colima
Colima (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Colima ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Colima), is one of the 31 states that make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It shares its name with its capital and main city, Colima.
Colima i ...
, and later travelled to
Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...
with his family. He worked there as the director of a natural history museum. He was later hired by the government of Chiapas and moved to that state. Due to his close contact and friendship with politicians he became prominent and well-funded. He was married to Clementina Pérez.
Alvarez del Toro is the author of the following books: ''Los Reptiles de Chiapas'' (1960), ''Los Crocodylia de México'' (1974), ''Los Animales Silvestres de Chiapas'' (1952), ''¡Así era Chiapas!'' (1985), ''Las Aves de Chiapas'' (1971), ''Arañas de Chiapas'' (1992), ''Chiapas y su biodiversidad'' (1993), and ''Comitán, una puerta al sur'' (1994).
Legacy
The
Zoológico Miguél Álvarez del Toro (ZOOMAT), a zoo, is named after him.
CIPAMEX the
Society for Study and Conservation of Mexican Birds, named a medal in his honor. It is given to ornithologists who have done a life's work for birds.
Environmentalist group ''Fundación Chiapaneca Miguel Alvarez del Toro para la Proteccion de la Naturaleza'' is also named after him.
The following species have been named after him:
*''
Cryptotriton alvarezdeltoroi'' – Alvarez del Toro's hidden salamander
*''
Anolis alvarezdeltoroi''
[Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Alvarez, M.", p. 6).]
*''
Coniophanes alvarezi'' – Chiapan stripeless snake
[
*''Trogolaphysa toroi''
*'']Pulex alvarezi
''Pulex'' is a genus of fleas. It comprises seven species. One is the human flea (''P. irritans''), and five of the others are confined to the Nearctic and Neotropical realms.
Species
''Encyclopedia of Life'' lists seven species:
*'' Pulex alva ...
''
*'' Lepidophyma alvarezi'' = ''Lepidophyma tuxtlae''[
*'' Ceratozamia alvarezii''
*'' Mastophora alvareztoroi''
*'' Bipes alvarezi'' = ''Bipes canaliculatus''][
]
References
Further reading
*"Miguel Alvarez del Toro," in Tom Taylor and Michael Taylor, ''Aves: A Survey of the Literature of Neotropical Ornithology'', Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Libraries, 2011.
1917 births
1996 deaths
Mexican naturalists
20th-century Mexican zoologists
People from Colima
{{Mexico-scientist-stub