David A. Grimaldi (born September 22, 1957) is an entomologist and Curator of Invertebrate Zoology at the
American Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. In Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 26 inter ...
in
New York. He received his graduate training at
Cornell University
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...
, where he earned his doctorate in Entomology in 1986. Dr. Grimaldi is an authority in many fields of insect systematics, paleontology, and evolutionary biology.
Dr. Grimaldi is also an adjunct professor at
Cornell University
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...
,
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
, and the
City University of New York
The City University of New York ( CUNY; , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven Upper divis ...
.
Aside from numerous papers in scientific journals, Grimaldi is author of ''Amber: Window to the Past'', and of ''Evolution of the Insects'' (2005) with co-author
Michael S. Engel.
Honors and awards
Some of Dr. Grimaldi's scientific honors include:
* Thomas Say Award,
Entomological Society of America, 2007
Eponymy
The following is a selection of taxa that have been named for Grimaldi:
*''Afrarchaea grimaldii'' Penney (a fossil archaeid
spider
Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...
in Burmese amber)
*''Ambradolon grimaldii'' Metz (a fossil therevid fly in Dominican amber)
*''Burmadactylus grimaldii''
Heads (a fossil pygmy mole cricket in Burmese amber)
*''Ctenoplectrella grimaldii''
Engel (a fossil
bee in Baltic amber)
*''Cubanoptila grimaldii'' Wichard (a fossil
caddisfly
The caddisflies, or order Trichoptera, are a group of insects with aquatic larvae and terrestrial adults. There are approximately 14,500 described species, most of which can be divided into the suborders Integripalpia and Annulipalpia on the ...
in Dominican amber)
*''Euliphora grimaldii'' Arillo & Mostovski (a fossil
phorid fly
The Phoridae are a family of small, hump-backed flies resembling fruit flies. Phorid flies can often be identified by their escape habit of running rapidly across a surface rather than taking to the wing. This behaviour is a source of one of thei ...
in Spanish amber)
*''Glabellula grimaldii'' Evenhuis (a fossil
Mythicomyiidae
Mythicomyiidae, commonly called mythicomyiids, are very tiny flies (0.5–5.0 mm) found throughout most parts of the world, especially desert and semi-desert regions, except the highest altitudes and latitudes. They are not as common in the t ...
in Dominican amber)
*''Glyptotermes grimaldii''
Engel & Krishna (a fossil drywood
termite
Termites are small insects that live in colonies and have distinct castes (eusocial) and feed on wood or other dead plant matter. Termites comprise the infraorder Isoptera, or alternatively the epifamily Termitoidae, within the order Blatto ...
in Dominican amber)
*''Grimaldinia'' Popov & Heiss (a genus of fossil leptosaldine shore bugs in Burmese amber)
*''Halitheres grimaldii'' Giribet & Dunlop (a fossil
harvestman
The Opiliones (formerly Phalangida) are an order of arachnids colloquially known as harvestmen, harvesters, harvest spiders, or daddy longlegs. , over 6,650 species of harvestmen have been discovered worldwide, although the total number of ext ...
in Burmese amber)
*''Palaeoburmesebuthus grimaldii'' Lourenço (a fossil
scorpion
Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the order Scorpiones. They have eight legs, and are easily recognized by a pair of grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back and always end ...
in Burmese amber)
*''Phyloblatta grimaldii'' Vršanský (a fossil
roach
Roach may refer to:
Animals
* Cockroach, various insect species of the order Blattodea
* Common roach (''Rutilus rutilus''), a fresh and brackish water fish of the family Cyprinidae
** ''Rutilus'' or roaches, a genus of fishes
* California roach ...
from the Triassic of Virginia)
*''Plectromerus grimaldii'' Nearns & Branham (a fossil long-horn
beetle
Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...
in Dominican amber)
References
*
*
Curriculum Vitae (short version)
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