The scientist as historian: Paulo Vanzolini and the origins of zoology in Brazil.

The Brazilian Paulo Vanzolini is one of the leading herpetologists worldwide. Besides his publications as a zoologist and his activities as a former museum curator and policymaker, Vanzolini pursued a long-life career as a musician and contributed to many different fields such as biostatistics, biogeography and the history of science. The paper analyzes his historical contributions to a key chapter of science in Southern America, the legacy of the so-called traveler naturalists. His analyses comprise major scientists such as Marcgrave, Spix, von Martius, Wied-Neuwied, Castelnau, and Agassiz, are informed by re-analyses of original sources and represent an invaluable repository of historical and scientific information.