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Papers in Paleontology - Festschrift in honor of Diogenes de Almeida Campos

It is with great pleasure that we present this publication made in honor of Dr. Diogenes de Almeida Campos. A Festschrift is a volume dedicated to pay tribute to a scholar for his achievement in the field. This is perhaps the highest distinction that any scientist can receive from his peers. The last initiative of this kind in the Annals of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences (AABC) was published over two decades ago (Cavalcante 2000CAVALCANTE L. 2000. In memoriam Carlos Chagas Filho. An Acad Bras Cienc 72: 298 DOI 10.1590/S0001-37652000000300001.
https://doi.org/10.1590/S0001-3765200000...
). The AABC is very happy to carry out once again this healthy initiative to recognize researchers who have dedicated their lives to scientific development, something very important in these increasingly complex times (e.g., Oliveira et al. 2020OLIVEIRA EA, MARTELLI JÚNIOR H, SILVA ACS, MARTELLI DRB & OLIVEIRA MCL. 2020. Science funding crisis in Brazil and COVID-19: deleterious impact on scientific output. An Acad Bras Cienc 92: e20200700. DOI 10.1590/0001-3765202020200700.
https://doi.org/10.1590/0001-37652020202...
).

We will not present a complete account of Dr. Campos’ trajectory - it would be far too long to record the achievements of someone who has been in the field for more than five decades. Born in the municipality of Irará, Dr. Campos graduated in geology from the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA) in 1967 and moved to Rio de Janeiro where he was invited by Dr. Llewellyn I. Price (1905-1980) to work with him in the Paleontology Section of the National Department of Mineral Production (DNPM), from where he retired in 2013. Today he advises the Geological Survey of Brazil on geology and paleontology matters, for all regarding the Earth Science Museum.

During his very productive career, Dr. Campos has published over 160 original papers and books, including articles in the world’s leading journals such as Comptes Rendus de L’Académie de Sciences, Science, Nature, PNAS, and, of course, AABC. In fact, at AABC he was the editor of Earth Sciences for quite some time. In 1992, Dr. Campos was elected Full Member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences. Among other honors, he was appointed Correspondent Member of the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle (Paris, 1981) and Research Associate of the American Museum of Natural History (New York, 1993). For his outstanding contribution, Dr. Campos received the title Doctor Honoris Causa from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ, 2014) and was appointed Commander from the National Order of Scientific Merit of Brazil, one of the highest awards granted in the country for scientific achievement.

The central focus of his research are the Cretaceous and Tertiary paleontological deposits of Brazil. Contributing to the description of several new species, Dr. Campos also paid special attention to the paleoenvironmental context of fossiliferous layers and how they correlate with others, not limited to the Brazilian territory. He also played an outstanding role in the field of geology, participating in the elaboration of the Geological Map of Brazil on a scale of 1:2,500,000 and was one of the editors of the classical text Geologia do Brasil.

Another important feature of Dr. Campos’ activities was the protection of fossil deposits, which is becoming a heated debate. For everyone in the Araripe Basin, he was paramount in encouraging the establishment of a local museum. This is also why he has been constantly recognized in conjunction with actions to protect geological heritage (e.g., Pinheiro et al. 2021aPINHEIRO A ET AL. 2021a. Diogenes de Almeida Campos: An example to be followed for the preservation efforts of the fossils from the Araripe Basin. An Acad Bras Cienc 93: e20211378. DOI 10.1590/0001-3765202120211378.
https://doi.org/10.1590/0001-37652021202...
), which is quite opportune to be stressed due to recent manipulation of some basic principles of geoparks, resulting in dissemination of ill-conceived notions that are harmful to the national interest in the efforts to recover its paleontological heritage.

Dr. Campos always encouraged young students. In terms of direct guidance, even though he is not linked to a university, he has given the opportunity to dozens of students to pursue their master´s and doctoral degrees and, on several occasions, has acted as an informal advisor. Among his latest papers, he published with a young paleontologist a description of new crocodylomorphs from his home state of Bahia (Souza & Campos 2019SOUZA RG & CAMPOS DA. 2019. New Crocodyliform specimens from Recôncavo-Tucano Basin (Early Cretaceous) of Bahia, Brazil. An Acad Bras Cienc 91: e20170382. DOI 10.1590/0001-3765201720170382.
https://doi.org/10.1590/0001-37652017201...
). He has been honored several times with genera and species dedicated to him (e.g., Leonardi 1979LEONARDI G. 1979. Nota Preliminar Sobre Seis Pistas de Dinossauros Ornithischia da Bacia do Rio do Peixe (Cretáceo Inferior) em Sousa, Paraíba, Brasil. An Acad Bras Cienc 51: 501-516., Kellner 1987KELLNER AWA. 1987. Ocorrência de um novo crocodiliano no Cretáceo Inferior da Bacia do Araripe, Nordeste do Brasil. An Acad Bras Cienc 59: 219-232.), including in the present volume (Oliveira et al. 2021OLIVEIRA EV, CARNEIRO LM & GOIN FJ. 2021. A new derorhynchid (Mammalia, Metatheria) from the early Eocene Itaboraí fauna of Brazil with comments on its affinities. An Acad Bras Cienc 93: e20201554. DOI 10.1590/0001-3765202120201554.
https://doi.org/10.1590/0001-37652021202...
).

It should be noted that Dr. Campos has also worked with education and dissemination of scientific knowledge at the Museum of Earth Sciences and coordinating the program developed by the Brazilian Academy of Sciences (ABC), entitled ABC in Scientific Education - Mão na Massa (Hand on).

Another aspect of Dr. Campos’ career was his activism for the development of paleontology in Brazil, talking to politicians, ministers of state and government agents. He initiated the only public notice dedicated to paleontological research by the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), which greatly helped the area, including enabling the installation of several new research groups in Brazil led by young paleontologists.

The present issue of the AABC includes contributions involving about 80 researchers from different countries - far too many to list them all here. Some explicitly recognized the contribution of this great paleontologist, including his encouragement in the internationalization of this area (e.g., Sena et al. 2021SENA MVA, BANTIM RAM, SARAIVA AAF, SAYÃO JM & OLIVEIRA GR. 2021. Shell and long-bone histology, skeletochronology, and lifestyle of Araripemys barretoi (Testudines: Pleurodira), a side-necked turtle of the Lower Cretaceous from Brazil. An Acad Bras Cienc 93: e20201606. DOI 10.1590/0001-3765202120201606.
https://doi.org/10.1590/0001-37652021202...
), and others pointed out his influence on their careers (e.g., Pinheiro et al. 2021bPINHEIRO AEP, SOUZA LG, BANDEIRA KLN, BRUM AS, PEREIRA PVLGC, CASTRO LOR, RAMOS RRC & SIMBRAS FM. 2021b. The first notosuchian crocodyliform from the Araçatuba Formation (Bauru Group, Paraná Basin), and diversification of sphagesaurians. An Acad Bras Cienc 93: e20201591. DOI 10.1590/0001-3765202120201591.
https://doi.org/10.1590/0001-37652021202...
). We acknowledge them all for their help to put this publication together.

On behalf of all authors, we would like to thank Dr. Diogenes de Almeida Campos for dedicating his career to Geosciences, especially to Paleontology.

REFERENCES

  • CAVALCANTE L. 2000. In memoriam Carlos Chagas Filho. An Acad Bras Cienc 72: 298 DOI 10.1590/S0001-37652000000300001.
    » https://doi.org/10.1590/S0001-37652000000300001
  • KELLNER AWA. 1987. Ocorrência de um novo crocodiliano no Cretáceo Inferior da Bacia do Araripe, Nordeste do Brasil. An Acad Bras Cienc 59: 219-232.
  • LEONARDI G. 1979. Nota Preliminar Sobre Seis Pistas de Dinossauros Ornithischia da Bacia do Rio do Peixe (Cretáceo Inferior) em Sousa, Paraíba, Brasil. An Acad Bras Cienc 51: 501-516.
  • OLIVEIRA EA, MARTELLI JÚNIOR H, SILVA ACS, MARTELLI DRB & OLIVEIRA MCL. 2020. Science funding crisis in Brazil and COVID-19: deleterious impact on scientific output. An Acad Bras Cienc 92: e20200700. DOI 10.1590/0001-3765202020200700.
    » https://doi.org/10.1590/0001-3765202020200700
  • OLIVEIRA EV, CARNEIRO LM & GOIN FJ. 2021. A new derorhynchid (Mammalia, Metatheria) from the early Eocene Itaboraí fauna of Brazil with comments on its affinities. An Acad Bras Cienc 93: e20201554. DOI 10.1590/0001-3765202120201554.
    » https://doi.org/10.1590/0001-3765202120201554
  • PINHEIRO A ET AL. 2021a. Diogenes de Almeida Campos: An example to be followed for the preservation efforts of the fossils from the Araripe Basin. An Acad Bras Cienc 93: e20211378. DOI 10.1590/0001-3765202120211378.
    » https://doi.org/10.1590/0001-3765202120211378
  • PINHEIRO AEP, SOUZA LG, BANDEIRA KLN, BRUM AS, PEREIRA PVLGC, CASTRO LOR, RAMOS RRC & SIMBRAS FM. 2021b. The first notosuchian crocodyliform from the Araçatuba Formation (Bauru Group, Paraná Basin), and diversification of sphagesaurians. An Acad Bras Cienc 93: e20201591. DOI 10.1590/0001-3765202120201591.
    » https://doi.org/10.1590/0001-3765202120201591
  • SENA MVA, BANTIM RAM, SARAIVA AAF, SAYÃO JM & OLIVEIRA GR. 2021. Shell and long-bone histology, skeletochronology, and lifestyle of Araripemys barretoi (Testudines: Pleurodira), a side-necked turtle of the Lower Cretaceous from Brazil. An Acad Bras Cienc 93: e20201606. DOI 10.1590/0001-3765202120201606.
    » https://doi.org/10.1590/0001-3765202120201606
  • SOUZA RG & CAMPOS DA. 2019. New Crocodyliform specimens from Recôncavo-Tucano Basin (Early Cretaceous) of Bahia, Brazil. An Acad Bras Cienc 91: e20170382. DOI 10.1590/0001-3765201720170382.
    » https://doi.org/10.1590/0001-3765201720170382

Publication Dates

  • Publication in this collection
    03 Dec 2021
  • Date of issue
    2021
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