Vratislav Mazák
Encyclopedia
Vratislav Mazák (ˈvracɪslaf ˈmazaːk; June 22, 1937 – September 9, 1987) was a Czech
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....

 biologist
Biologist
A biologist is a scientist devoted to and producing results in biology through the study of life. Typically biologists study organisms and their relationship to their environment. Biologists involved in basic research attempt to discover underlying mechanisms that govern how organisms work...

. He specialised in paleoanthropology
Paleoanthropology
Paleoanthropology, which combines the disciplines of paleontology and physical anthropology, is the study of ancient humans as found in fossil hominid evidence such as petrifacted bones and footprints.-19th century:...

, mammalogy
Mammalogy
In zoology, mammalogy is the study of mammals – a class of vertebrates with characteristics such as homeothermic metabolism, fur, four-chambered hearts, and complex nervous systems...

 and taxonomy
Taxonomy
Taxonomy is the science of identifying and naming species, and arranging them into a classification. The field of taxonomy, sometimes referred to as "biological taxonomy", revolves around the description and use of taxonomic units, known as taxa...

, and he was also a painter, often illustrating his books about animals and men.

Born at Kutná Hora
Kutná Hora
Kutná Hora is a city in Bohemia, now the Czech Republic in the Central Bohemian Region.-History:The town began in 1142 with the settlement of the first Cistercian Monastery in Bohemia, Kloster Sedlitz, brought from the Imperial immediate Cistercian Waldsassen Abbey...

, he was a professor at the Charles University's Faculty of Science and also worked as a zoologist at the Prague National Museum
National Museum (Prague)
The National museum is a Czech museum institution intended to systematically establish, prepare and publicly exhibit natural scientific and historical collections. It was founded 1818 in Prague by Kašpar Maria Šternberg...

. Along with Dr. Groves
Colin Groves
Colin Peter Groves is Professor of Biological Anthropology at the Australian National University in Canberra, Australia.Born in England on 24 June 1942, Colin Groves completed a Bachelor of Science at University College London in 1963, and a Doctor of Philosophy at the Royal Free Hospital School of...

, Mazák was the describer of Homo ergaster
Homo ergaster
Homo ergaster is an extinct chronospecies of Homo that lived in eastern and southern Africa during the early Pleistocene, about 2.5–1.7 million years ago.There is still disagreement on the subject of the classification, ancestry, and progeny of H...

. He also described the tiger
Tiger
The tiger is the largest cat species, reaching a total body length of up to and weighing up to . Their most recognizable feature is a pattern of dark vertical stripes on reddish-orange fur with lighter underparts...

 subspecies Panthera tigris corbetti
Indochinese Tiger
The Indochinese tiger or Corbett's tiger is a subspecies of tiger found in Cambodia, Laos, Burma, Thailand, and Vietnam and formerly in China. Tigers in peninsular Malaysia, formerly classified as Indochinese, have recently been reclassified as a separate subspecies, Malayan tiger Panthera tigris...

.

He died in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...

.

In Czech

  • Naši savci (1970), Our Mammals
  • Kostra velryby v Národním muzeu v Praze a krátký pohled do světa kytovců (1976), The skeleton of the whale in the Prague National Museum and a brief look into the world of cetaceans
  • Jak vznikl člověk: Sága rodu Homo
    Homo (genus)
    Homo is the genus that includes modern humans and species closely related to them. The genus is estimated to be about 2.3 to 2.4 million years old, evolving from australopithecine ancestors with the appearance of Homo habilis....

    (1977), The Origin of Man - Saga of the Homo genus; with Zdeněk Burian
    Zdenek Burian
    Zdeněk Michael František Burian was a Czech painter and book illustrator whose work played a central role in the development of palaeontological reconstructions during a remarkable career spanning five decades...

  • Velké kočky a gepardi (1980), Big cat
    Big cat
    The term big cat – which is not a biological classification – is used informally to distinguish the larger felid species from smaller ones. One definition of "big cat" includes the four members of the genus Panthera: the tiger, lion, jaguar, and leopard. Members of this genus are the only cats able...

    s and cheetah
    Cheetah
    The cheetah is a large-sized feline inhabiting most of Africa and parts of the Middle East. The cheetah is the only extant member of the genus Acinonyx, most notable for modifications in the species' paws...

    s
  • Jak vznikl člověk: (Sága rodu Homo
    Homo (genus)
    Homo is the genus that includes modern humans and species closely related to them. The genus is estimated to be about 2.3 to 2.4 million years old, evolving from australopithecine ancestors with the appearance of Homo habilis....

    )
    (1986), The Origin of Man—Saga of the Homo genus, a revised and enlarged edition; with Zdeněk Burian
  • Kytovci (1988), Cetaceans
  • Pravěký člověk (1992), Prehistoric Man
    Human evolution
    Human evolution refers to the evolutionary history of the genus Homo, including the emergence of Homo sapiens as a distinct species and as a unique category of hominids and mammals...

    ; with Zdeněk Burian

In German

  • Der Tiger: Panthera tigris Linnaeus, 1758 (1965)
  • Die Namen der Pelztiere und ihrer Felle (1974)
  • Der Tiger: Panthera tigris (1979)
  • Der Urmensch und seine Vorfahren (1983)

External links

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