Irajá Damiani Pinto (July 3, 1919 – June 21, 2014), was a Brazilian

paleontologist Paleontology, also spelled as palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classify organisms, measure geolo ...

and professor at the

Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul The Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (, UFRGS) is a Brazilian Public university, public National university, federal research university based in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul. UFRGS is among the largest and highest-rated universities ...

(UFRGS in Portuguese), a member of the

Brazilian Academy of Sciences Brazilian commonly refers to: * Brazil, a country * Brazilians, its people * Brazilian Portuguese, its dialect Brazilian may also refer to: * "The Brazilian", a 1986 instrumental music piece by Genesis * Brazilian Café, Baghdad, Iraq (1937) * Bra ...

, and a two time president of the

Brazilian Geological Society The Sociedade Brasileira de Geologia is a technical and scientific society that aims brings to bring together Brazilian geologists, to disseminate technical and scientific information, and to participate in national decisions involving the geolog ...

Biography

Irajá Damiani Pinto was born in

Porto Alegre Porto Alegre (, ; , ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian Federative units of Brazil, state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its population of roughly 1.4 million inhabitants (2022) makes it the List of largest cities in Brazil, 11th-most p ...

Rio Grande do Sul Rio Grande do Sul (, ; ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative units of Brazil#List, fifth-most populous state and the List of Brazilian s ...

, Brazil, on July 3, 1919 Curriculo de Irajá Damiani Pinto.
/ref> He studied ''Ginásio Nossa Senhora do Rosário''. Attended the 2nd grade at ''Colégio Universitário Estadual Julio de Castilhos''. In 1942, he began his studies of Natural History in the Faculty of Philosophy of the then University of Porto Alegre. He graduated BA in 1944. In 1945, even as a student in the undergraduate course, was hired as Assistant Chair of Geology and Paleontology. That year he participated in his first scientific excursion led by Dr.

Llewellyn Ivor Price Llewellyn Ivor Price (October 9, 1905 – June 9, 1980) was one of the first Brazilian paleontologists. His work contributed not only to the development of Brazilian but also to global paleontology. He collected ''Staurikosaurus'' in 1936, th ...

, who contributed much to his scientific orientation. In 1945 he carried out the DNPM, 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 ...

, with Dr. Paul Ericksen de Oliveira and directed by Dr.

, and began the library of Geology and Paleontology at the university. In 1957 he helped create the course in

geology Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth ...

of UFRGS, one of the first in Brazil. The genus of

cynodont Cynodontia () is a clade of eutheriodont therapsids that first appeared in the Late Permian (approximately 260 Megaannum, mya), and extensively diversified after the Permian–Triassic extinction event. Mammals are cynodonts, as are their extin ...

Irajatherium ''Irajatherium'' is an extinct genus of cynodonts, known only of the type species ''Irajatherium hernandezi''.Martinelli et al., 2005 It is named in honor of Irajá Damiani Pinto. Species ''Irajatherium hernandezi'' is a species known only by ...

'' is in his honor, in addition to the Museum of Paleontology Irajá Damiani Pinto.

References

* Book: ''Os Fascinantes Caminhos da Paleontologia.'' Author : ''Antônio Isaia.'' Publisher Pallotti. (''Portuguese'') * Book: "''Cronologia Histórica de Santa Maria e do extinto município de São Martinho.''" 1787-1933. Vol I. Author: ''Romeu Beltrão'', Publisher ''Pallotti'', 1958. (''Portuguese'') Brazilian paleontologists People from Porto Alegre Recipients of the Great Cross of the National Order of Scientific Merit (Brazil) 1919 births 2014 deaths Academic staff of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul {{Brazil-scientist-stub