Camille Arambourg ( February 3, 1885– November 19, 1969) was a French

vertebrate Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () ( chordates with backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, with ...

paleontologist Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...

. He conducted extensive field work in North

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. In the 1950s he argued against the prevailing model of

Neanderthal Neanderthals (, also ''Homo neanderthalensis'' and erroneously ''Homo sapiens neanderthalensis''), also written as Neandertals, are an Extinction, extinct species or subspecies of archaic humans who lived in Eurasia until about 40,000 years ag ...

s as brutish and simian. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

he was in

Military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

service. After that he was a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professo ...

Geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other Astronomical object, astronomical objects, the features or rock (geology), rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology ...

at the Institut Agricole d'Alger, and after that a professor of

Paleontology Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...

Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle The French National Museum of Natural History, known in French as the ' (abbreviation MNHN), is the national natural history museum of France and a ' of higher education part of Sorbonne Universities. The main museum, with four galleries, is loc ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

, where he succeeded his teacher

Marcellin Boule Pierre-Marcellin Boule (1 January 1861 – 4 July 1942), better known as merely Marcellin Boule, was a French palaeontologist, geologist, and anthropologist. Early life and education Pierre-Marcellin Boule was born in Montsalvy, France. Care ...

. The pterosaur ''

Arambourgiania ''Arambourgiania'' is an extinct genus of azhdarchid pterosaur from the Late Cretaceous period (Maastrichtian stage) of Jordan, and possibly the United States.Harrell, T. Lynn Jr.; Gibson, Michael A.; Langston, Wann Jr. (2016). "A cervical ver ...

'' is named after him. He was President of the

PanAfrican Archaeological Association The PanAfrican Archaeological Association (PAA) is a pan-African professional organisation for archaeologists, geologists and palaeoanthropologists. History The association was founded by Louis Leakey and its first congress was held in Nairobi ...

from 1959 to 1963.

Publications

* (1942) "L’

Elephas recki ''Palaeoloxodon recki'' is an extinct species of elephant native to Africa during the Pliocene and Pleistocene. At up to 14 feet (4.27 metres) in shoulder height, it was one of the largest elephant species to have ever lived. It is believed that ...

Dietrich. Exposition systématique et ses affinités". ''Bull. Soc. géol. France'' sér. 5, 12: 73-87. * (1947) ''Mission scientifique de l’Omo (1932-1933). Géologie et Anthropologie''. Mus. Natl. * (1948) "Observations sur le Quaternaire de la région du Hoggar", ''Travaux de l'Institut de Recherches Sahariennes'', t. V, pp. 7–18. * (1955) "L'ancien lac de Tihodaïne et ses gisements préhistoriques - I. Historique et stratigraphie", ''Actes du IIème Congrès Panafricain de Préhistoire d'Alger'' (1952), pp. 281–292. * (1957) "Récentes découvertes de paléontologie humaine réalisées en Afrique du Nord française (L'Atlanthropus de Ternifine - L'Hominien de Casablanca)", ''Third Panafrican Congress on Prehistory'', Livingstone 1955, Clark, J.D. & Cole, S., Eds., London, Chatto & Windus, pp. 186–194. * (1958) "Les artisans des industries acheuléennes", ''Bulletin de la Société Préhistorique de l'Ariège (Préhistoire Spéléologie Ariégeoises)'', t. XIII, pp. 43–47. * (1962) "État actuel des recherches sur le Quaternaire de l'Afrique du Nord", ''Actes du IVème Congrès Panafricain de Préhistoire et de l'Etude du Quaternaire'', Musée royal de l'Afrique centrale - Tervuren (Belgique) - Annales, série in 8° - Sciences humaines, n° 40, pp. 255–277. * (with P. Biberson) (1956) "The fossil human remains from the Paleolithic site of Sidi Abderrahman (Morocco)", ''American Journal of Physical Anthropology'', v. 14 n.s., n° 3, pp. 467–490.

Tribute

The fish ''

Enteromius arambourgi ''Enteromius arambourgi'' is a species of ray-finned fish in the genus '' Enteromius''. It is endemic to Ethiopia. Size This species reaches a length of . Etymology The fish is named in honor of vertebrate paleontologist Camille Arambourg ...

'' is named in his honor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arambourg, Camille French paleontologists Members of the French Academy of Sciences 1885 births 1969 deaths