Revista Chilena de Historia Natural 83 (3): 323-333, 2010
REVIEW ARTICLE
Ecology and biodiversity of vertebrates in Chile: A commented analysis of the Zoology of
Claude Gay
By reviewing the zoological section of the Historia Física y Política de Chile written by
Claude Gay, we analyze his contributions to the understanding of the Chilean vertebrates, which included 483 species: 68 mammals,
259 birds, 31 reptiles, 16 amphibians, and 109 fishes. Gay documented 50 species as new taxa to science, but subsequent taxonomic
analyses sinonimized 58 % of those species; thus currently only 21 species are recognized as valid. This means that 1.1 % of
the Chilean vertebrates currently recognized were described in this monumental publication.
Key words:
history of science,
naturalist
