Marc van Roosmalen

Last updated

Marc van Roosmalen
Born (1947-06-23) 23 June 1947 (age 76)
Tilburg, Netherlands
Alma mater University of Amsterdam
Occupation Primatologist
Years active1976–present
Known for[[Fieldwork in the Rainforests of the Amazon; (Popular-)Science writer about the Biodiversity of the Amazon]]
Notable workLive from the Amazon - On the Path of Evolution; A Pictorial Field Guide to All Known Woody Plants of the Amazon]]
SpouseAntônia Vivian Silva Garcia
ChildrenVasco Marcus; Tomas
Parent(s)Franciscus L.W. van Roosmalen; Maria van Remmerden
Website www.marcvanroosmalen.info

Dr. Marc van Roosmalen (born 23 June 1947) is a Dutch-Brazilian primatologist. He was elected as one of the "Heroes for the Planet" by Time magazine in 2000. [1] His research has led to the identification of several new monkey species, as well as other mammals and plants, although some of these identifications are challenged . [2] He is also an activist in the protection of the Brazilian rainforest. [3] Van Roosmalen was awarded the honour of officer in the Order of the Golden Ark by Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands in 1997. [4] [5]

Contents

Career

Van Roosmalen studied biology at the University of Amsterdam and did four years of doctoral fieldwork beginning in 1976 studying the red-faced spider monkey in Suriname. He later did two more years of work in French Guiana, following which he published the book Fruits of the Guianan Flora. In 1986 he was hired by the INPA (Brazilian National Institute of Amazonian Research, where he initially thrived. During this period, he launched a non-governmental organization focused on creating wilderness preserves in the deep Amazon. He became a naturalized Brazilian citizen in 1997. Marc considers Alfred Russel Wallace his icon and is an advocate of Wallace's "river barrier" hypothesis that the major rivers of the Amazon basin serve as barriers that create separate genetically distinct evolutionary regions. [2]

Personal life

Marc grew up in Tilburg, a city in the southern part of the Netherlands. His father was a chemist. He met and married his first wife while living in Utrecht, where he had moved for school at age 17. They had two sons. In early 2008, he divorced his first wife and married his Brazilian girlfriend. [6]

Publications (selection)

Controversies

In 2002, he was fined by the IBAMA (Brazilian Ministry of the Environment's Enforcement Agency) for illegal transportation of monkeys and orchids from the unexplored Amazonian region of Serra do Aracá. In April 2003, Van Roosmalen was fired from his senior scientist job with the federal institute INPA for alleged 'illegal' export abroad of environmental genetic samples. [7]

In 2007, he was arrested by the Brazilian government for illegally keeping orphaned monkeys in a monkey refuge at his house in Manaus and for misappropriation of Brazilian public funds. [7] He was sentenced to 14+ years in prison. Van Roosmalen claims that he over and over applied for permits for his monkey preserve. He was placed in the notorious Raimundo Vidal Pessoa Penitentiary in Manaus-AM. At one point Van Roosmalen shared a cell with two violent crack addicts whose drug debts he had to pay to stay alive. [6] After three months in 'hell on earth', he was set free on appeal. [8] [9]

Van Roosmalen told a Wired news reporter that he has a video of two ex-policemen knocking on his door immediately after tucking revolvers into their pants. Believing that he would be killed if he stayed, he and his partner Vivian Garcia went on the run to the Caribbean Island of Margarita with no plans to return to their home in Manaus as of August 2007. [6] In exile, on contract with a Dutch publishing house, Van Roosmalen began to write popular-scientific books about his life in the Amazon. In December 2008, he was fully absolved from all alleged "crimes against Mother Nature" by the Supreme Court in Brasilia-DF.

In 2010, Marc van Roosmalen received a grant from the Scholar Rescue Fund of the Institute of International Education in NY. He was appointed as a Distinguished Scholar in Residence for the 2010-2011 academic year at Bard College. [10]

Van Roosmalen's dwarf porcupine and Van Roosmalen's dwarf marmoset are discovered by and named after him. He named the Prince Bernhard's titi after the late Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, co-founder and former president of the WWF.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Titi monkey</span> Subfamily of New World monkeys

The titis, or titi monkeys, are New World monkeys of the subfamily Callicebinae, which contains three extant genera: Cheracebus, Callicebus, and Plecturocebus. This subfamily also contains the extinct genera Miocallicebus, Homunculus, and Carlocebus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roosmalens' dwarf marmoset</span> Species of New World monkey

The Roosmalens' dwarf marmoset, also known as the black-crowned dwarf marmoset, is a small New World monkey native to the Amazon Rainforest, on the east bank of the lower Madeira River, and the west bank of the Aripuanã River, in Brazil. It has the smallest distribution of any primate in Amazonia. This marmoset has several unique attributes, which has resulted in it sometimes being placed in the monotypic genus Callibella. However, genetic analysis has subsequently resulted in its being classified within the genus Mico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Russell Mittermeier</span> American primatologist and herpetologist

Russell Alan Mittermeier is a primatologist and herpetologist. He has written several books for both popular and scientist audiences, and has authored more than 300 scientific papers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brown-mantled tamarin</span> Species of New World monkey

The brown-mantled tamarin, also known as Spix's saddle-back tamarin, is a species of saddle-back tamarin. This New World monkey is found in the Southern American countries of Bolivia, Brazil and Peru. This omnivorous member of the Callitrichidae family is usually found in smaller groups ranging between 4 and 15 individuals. This species communicates vocally and largely rely their olfactory system. The brown-mantled tamarin is considered as a species of Least Concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, despite a decreasing population and being threatened by poaching, habitat loss and capture for the illegal pet trade.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Collared titi monkey</span> Species of New World monkey

The collared titi monkey is a species of titi, a type of New World monkey. It is endemic to northern Brazil.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen Nash's titi monkey</span> Species of New World monkey

Stephen Nash's titi monkey, also known as just Nash's titi or Stephen Nash's monkey, is a species of titi monkey, a type of New World monkey, endemic to the eastern bank of the Purus River in Brazil. It was discovered by Marc van Roosmalen in 2001 when local fishermen brought specimens to his breeding center. It was described in 2002. It was named in honor of Stephen D. Nash, an illustrator for Conservation International, the organization that funded van Roosmalen's work. The monkey is largely silver with a black forehead and red sideburns and chest, as well as on the underside of the species' limbs. It is 28 inches long, although 17 inches is taken up by the titi's tail.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coastal black-handed titi monkey</span> Species of New World monkey

The coastal black-handed titi monkey is a species of titi, a type of New World monkey, endemic to Brazil.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White-eared titi monkey</span> Species of New World monkey

The white-eared titi monkey also known as the Bolivian titi or Bolivian gray titi, is a species of titi monkey, a type of New World monkey, from eastern Bolivia and an area of western Brazil. The species has a range that extends east from the Manique River in Beni Department, Bolivia to southern Rondônia in Brazil. The southern end of its range includes forests around the city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brown titi monkey</span> Species of New World monkey

The brown titi monkey is a species of titi monkey, a type of New World monkey, from South America. It is endemic to Brazil. It was originally described as Callicebus brunneus in 1842 and transferred to the newly erected genus Plecturocebus in 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prince Bernhard's titi monkey</span> Species of New World monkey

Prince Bernhard's titi monkey, also called the zog-zog monkey, is a species of titi monkey in the genus Plecturocebus, first described in 2002. It is named after Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands. They have varying coloration of gray, black, and agouti, with dark orange in certain regions. They are endemic to Brazil, found mostly in disturbed forest environments. While officially listed as least-concern by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), they may, in fact, be at-risk due to human-caused deforestation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White-nosed saki</span> Species of New World monkey

The white-nosed saki is a species of bearded saki, a type of New World monkey, endemic to the south-central Amazon rainforest in Brazil. Both its scientific and common name were caused by the authors working from dead specimens, where the skin on and around the nose fades to a whitish color. In living individuals, the nose is actually bright pink. Pelage on the body tends to be black in males and brown to brownish-grey in females. No other species of the genus Chiropotes have a brightly coloured nose.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black bearded saki</span> Species of New World monkey

The black bearded saki is a species of New World monkey, native to the Amazon rainforest of South America, specifically to an area of north-eastern Brazil. It is one of five species of bearded saki. Bearded sakis are medium-sized (50 cm), mostly frugivorous primates, specialised in seed predation. The genus name Chiropotes means "hand-drinker" as they have been observed using their hands as ladles for scooping water into their mouths. This behavior is thought to be a way of maintaining and protecting their characteristic beards. The black bearded sakis habitat has undergone heavy habitat fragmentation, making the future conservation status of the species uncertain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White-cheeked spider monkey</span> Species of New World monkey

The white-cheeked spider monkey is a species of spider monkey, a type of New World monkey, endemic to Brazil. It moves around the forest canopy in small family groups of two to four, part of larger groups of a few dozen animals. This monkey feeds on leaves, flowers, fruits, bark, honey and small insects, and it is an important means of seed dispersal for forest trees. Females give birth after a 230-day gestation period. The population of this monkey is decreasing as its forest habitat is lost to soybean production, deforestation and road construction. It is also regarded as a delicacy and hunted for food. For these reasons, the International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed the animal's conservation status as being "endangered".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marca's marmoset</span> Species of New World monkey

The Marca's marmoset is a species of marmoset that is endemic to the Amazon, in the Aripuanã-Manicoré interfluvium in Brazil. Its body is light grey, with orange legs, a black tail, a pinkish face, and naked ears. It is about 9 inches (23 cm) long, excluding the tail, and it has a 15-inch (38 cm) long tail. It weighs about 12 ounces (340 g).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Collared peccary</span> Species of mammals belonging to the peccary family

The collared peccary is a species of artiodactyl (even-toed) mammal in the family Tayassuidae found in North, Central, and South America. It is the only member of the genus Dicotyles. They are commonly referred to as javelina, saíno, or báquiro, although these terms are also used to describe other species in the family. The species is also known as the musk hog. In Trinidad, it is colloquially known as quenk.

<i>Astrocaryum vulgare</i> Species of palm

Astrocaryum vulgare is a very spiny palm native to the Guianas and the Amazon. It is species which has greatly benefited from deforestation, as it cannot grow in undisturbed rainforest. In Brazil it is considered typical of Pará state in the north of the lower Amazon. This plant has edible fruit.

<i>Mico</i> (genus) Genus of New World monkeys

Mico is a genus of New World monkeys of the family Callitrichidae, the family containing marmosets and tamarins. The genus was formerly considered a subgenus of the genus Callithrix.

Stephen David Nash is an English wildlife artist who primarily specialises on primates. He is currently based at the Stony Brook University on Long Island, New York, USA, in the Department of Anatomical Sciences where he works as a visiting research associate.

Milton's titi monkey is a species of titi monkey, a type of New World monkey, from southern Amazon rainforest, Brazil. It was named after the Brazilian primatologist Milton Thiago de Mello. Milton's titi was discovered in 2011 by Julio César Dalponte, and recognized as a new species in 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cruz Lima's saddle-back tamarin</span> Species of New World monkey

Cruz Lima's saddle-back tamarin is a species of saddle-back tamarin, a type of small monkey from South America. Cruz Lima's saddle-back tamarin was formerly considered to be a subspecies of the brown-mantled tamarin, L. fuscicollis. It lives in Brazil in the area near the Inauini River. Its fur is mostly reddish orange, with a black tail and white eyebrows. The IUCN rates it as least concern from a conservation standpoint.

References

  1. "Marc van Roosmalen". Time . Archived from the original on 2 December 2009.
  2. 1 2 Edinger, Claudio (February 2008). "Trials of a Primatologist". Smithsonian. 38 (11): 82–95. Archived from the original on 14 October 2009. Retrieved 20 July 2008.
  3. http://marcvanroosmalen.info/bijlage/curriculum_vitae.pdf.
  4. http://marcvanroosmalen.org/pages/aboutpag.html%5B%5D
  5. "Orde van de Gouden Ark". Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 1 July 2007.
  6. 1 2 3 Why Does This Prominent Amazon Researcher Face 14 Years in Prison for Biopiracy? Archived October 25, 2012, at the Wayback Machine - Wired Article
  7. 1 2 Pesquisador holandês é condenado no Amazonas. Archived October 18, 2007, at the Wayback Machine - Folha Online
  8. Rohter, Larry (28 August 2007). "As Brazil Defends Its Bounty, Rules Ensnare Scientists". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
  9. "DutchNews.nl - 'Hero' biologist jailed in Brazil". 21 June 2007. Archived from the original on 26 June 2007. Retrieved 22 June 2007.
  10. "World-Renowned Biologist and Amazon Researcher Marc van Roosmalen Joins Bard College as Visiting Scholar and Gives Public Talk on October 26". Bard College. Retrieved 28 September 2020.