2013_02_12_CIE_rafael-jordana-book-coleombolos-paleartica

Rafael Jordana, Professor Emeritus of the University of Navarra, is the author of the last volume of the series"Synopses on Palaearctic Collembola", published by the Natural History Museum of Görlitz (Germany), which is dedicated to two subgroups of springtails: the Capbryinae and the Entomobryini.Springtails are small animals close to insects, very abundant, and important for their work related to the recycling of organic subject in the soil.

 

According to the first part of the book, he studied over 13,000 specimens over four years , belonging to 270 species of 11 genera from the Palearctic region, which spans from the British Isles to Japan, and from the Arctic to the Asian region, north of the Himalayas, Asia Minor and North Africa."The specimens examined come from many national museums, universities and scientific institutions around the world, and from some private collections," says the author.

 

The volume offers a complete description of the quetotaxia (distribution of the silks on the body of the animals) and descriptive drawings of the morphology of the species studied, in many cases from specimens subject (specimens on which the species was described). However, as Professor Jordana points out, in some cases it was not possible to study them in detail due to various reasons, including their storage in poor condition in museums.

 

Partners

partnership For the work fieldwork, he had the help of several researchers, among them, Professor Enrique Baquero, from department of Zoology and Ecology, to whom he dedicates a large part of the acknowledgements, and who is the author of many of the figures that appear in the book. The book also incorporates new species that were discovered during the elaboration process, and which were previously described and published in scientific journals.

 

Since its publication, researchers interested in group have positively valued the work, considering it an important reference for its taxonomy."It will be an important tool for the study of the Biodiversity of the Palearctic region in the future", notes Baquero.

 

*Professor Rafael Jordana holds a PhD in Biological Sciences from the University of Navarra and Full Professor of Animal Physiology and Applied Zoology at the University of La Laguna. He was also Full Professor of Zoology and Comparative Animal Physiology at the University of Navarra for more than 40 years. He is currently Professor Emeritus of the University of Navarra.