Miguel Alvarez del Toro

Miguel Carlos Francisco Alvarez del Toro (1917–1996) was a Mexican biologist[1] who worked in the state of Chiapas as head of the Institute of Natural History. He was the first Mexican conservationist.

Career

He was born in Colima, and later travelled to Mexico City with his family. He worked there as the director of a natural history museum. He was later hired by the government of Chiapas and moved to that state. Due to his close contact and friendship with politicians he became prominent and well-funded. He was married to Clementina Pérez.

Alvarez del Toro is the author of the following books: Los Reptiles de Chiapas (1960), Los Crocodylia de México (1974), Los Animales Silvestres de Chiapas (1952), ¡Así era Chiapas! (1985), Las Aves de Chiapas (1971), Arañas de Chiapas (1992), Chiapas y su biodiversidad (1993), and Comitán, una puerta al sur (1994).

Legacy

The Zoológico Miguél Álvarez del Toro (ZOOMAT), a zoo, is named after him.

Environmentalist group Fundación Chiapaneca Miguel Alvarez del Toro para la Proteccion de la Naturaleza is also named after him.

The following species have been named after him:

• Cryptotriton alvarezdeltoroi – Alvarez del Toro's hidden salamander
• Anolis alvarezdeltoroi[2]
• Coniophanes alvarezi – Chiapan stripeless snake[2]
• Trogolaphysa toroi
• Pulex alvarezi
• Lepidophyma alvarezi = Lepidophyma tuxtlae[2]
• Ceratozamia alvarezii
• Mastophora alvareztoroi
• Bipes alvarezi = Bipes canaliculatus[2]

References

1. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2013). The Eponym Dictionary of Amphibians. Pelagic Publishing. p. 6. ISBN 978-1-907807-44-2.
2. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. ("Alvarez, M.", p. 6).

Further reading

• "Miguel Alvarez del Toro," in Tom Taylor and Michael Taylor, Aves: A Survey of the Literature of Neotropical Ornithology, Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Libraries, 2011.