Pierre Strinati at 90 and his contributions to the subterranean biology in Brazil

Abstract

The Swiss biospeleologist Pierre Strinati is well known in the field of the subterranean biology for having carried out expeditions to caves and collect samples of cave fauna around the world. He visited caves in around 70 countries and discovered hundreds of new species of invertebrates and two vertebrate species, publishing several scientific papers and books. In 1968, he included Brazil in his itinerary and visited the Areias de Cima cave and the Tapagem cave, both in the region of Iporanga, São Paulo state. He collected several invertebrates and sent them to be studied by specialists, resulting in the publication of 10 papers in which ten new species, one new genus and one new subfamily were described. Half of these species were named after him. Before Dr. Pierre Strinati visit the Brazilian caves, the knowledge about the cave fauna was almost restricted to taxonomic studies. Consequently, he was the first researcher to make a more complete sampling of the biological community of Brazilian caves, inspiring further studies about the subterranean biology in the country. Therefore, his pioneer exploration, in addition to the intensive works made by some Brazilian researchers, established the subterranean biology as a promising field of research in Brazil.