Miquel Crusafont i Pairó (1910 in

Sabadell Sabadell () is a city and municipality in Catalonia, Spain. It is in the south of the ''comarca'' of Vallès Occidental, where it is one of the two capitals, the other being Terrassa. It is located on the River Ripoll, north of Barcelona, a ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

– 1983) was a Spanish

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 ...

, specializing in

mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...

bone A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, ...

Life

He obtained a degree in Pharmacy in the

University of Barcelona The University of Barcelona (official name in ; UB), formerly also known as Central University of Barcelona (), is a public research university located in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It was established in 1450. With 76,000 students, ...

in 1933, and a further degree in Natural Sciences from the University of Madrid in 1950. From 1945 he contributed to the Barcelona-based popular science magazine '' Ibérica''. He was unanimously elected Professor of Paleontology at the

University of Oviedo The University of Oviedo (, Asturian: ''Universidá d'Uviéu'') is a public university in Asturias (Spain). It is the only university in the region. It has three campus and research centres, located in Oviedo, Gijón and Mieres. History Th ...

as first in his field, and then accepted the post of Professor of Anthropology in the Societatis Iesu in Barcelona. Among his most important works are ''Los Vertebrados del Mioceno Continental de la cuenca del Vallés-Penedés'' (1943, with Josep Fernández de Villalta), ''El Mioceno Continental del Vallès y sus yacimientos de vertebrados'' (1948, with Josep Fernández de Villalta); ''El Burdigaliense continental de la cuenca del Vallès-Penedès'' (1955, with Josep Fernández de Villalta and Jaume Truyols), ''Estudio Masterométricos en la evolución de los Fisípedos'' (1957, with Jaume Truyols); ''La Evolución'' (1966, with Bermudo Meléndez and Emiliano Aguirre). In 1969 he founded the Institut Provincial de Paleontologia, known since 1983 as the Institut de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont. The prehistoric mammal '' Crusafontia'' is named after him.

Works

*''Proteognosia Versus Evolucionismo'', Editorial Herder, 1964

References

External links

*
Info about Institut Paleontològic Dr. M. Crusafont
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Crusafont Paleontologists from Catalonia Spanish paleontologists 1910 births 1983 deaths Scientists from Catalonia University of Barcelona alumni Academic staff of the University of Oviedo