| C. F. de Mello-Leitão | |
|---|---|
 Mello-Leitão, from family album. | |
|
Nationality |
Brazilian |
|
Birthplace |
Brazil, Campina Grande, PB |
|
Life Span |
1886-1948 |
|
Publication Span |
1922-1949 |
Cândido Firmino de Mello-Leitão was the founder of Arachnology in South America, developing study of species of Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador. He may be regarded as a minor Brazilian counterpart to Roewer, although not extending his influence to the whole world fauna as the latter.
Notable contributions
Mello-Leitão among other things made a manual of Brazilian Opiliones (1932)[1]. He was the first to recognize the Podoctidae in the present sense (M-L 1938).
He erected some well-known family-group names such as Bourguyiinae Mello-Leitão, 1923 and Goniosomatinae Mello-Leitão, 1935.
This author created a great number of species and genera now in synonym, mainly from South America. But he is also the author of numerous well-established genera such as Acanthogonyleptes Mello-Leitão, 1922, Liogonyleptoides Mello-Leitão, 1925, Discocyrtoides Mello-Leitão, 1923, Camarana Mello-Leitão, 1935 and Spinopilar Mello-Leitão, 1940.
Mello-Leitão proposed nome names in morphological terminology, such as mesotergum.
Unique etymologies
Mello-Leitão often emulated Roewer's style in creating names, but sometimes he came up with more creative names derived from the literature (Pinocchio Mello-Leitão 1940) or biology of the group (Cryptogeobius Mello-Leitão, 1935).
References
- ↑ Mello-Leitão, C.F. de (1932b) Opiliões do Brasil. Revista do Museu Paulista, São Paulo, 17(2), 1–505, 61 pls.
External resources
OmniPaper Article on Mello-Leitão, including opilio-publication list and other goodies! [1]
