Resumen de Johann Baptíst Spíx and the "Língula Mandíbularís''

Stefano Eramo, Carlo de Carolis, Stefano Pagano

• Johann Baptist Ritter von Spix (1781-1826), a Germán zoologist, was famous in his time and highiy honored after making one of the first exploration voyages in the wildest part of Brazil. He was almost forgotten in the annals of history for nearly two centuries after his birth, at which time some enlightened biographers brought him back into prominence in both the biológica! and zoological fieids. On the contrary though, he had never been forgotten in the science of odontostomatology thanks to his discovery of the "Ungula Mandibularis" aiso known as "Spine of Spix". Johannes Baptist Spix was born in Hoechstadt, Germany in 1781. He was the Conservator of the Museum of Natural History in Munich and was a distinguished Comparative Anatomist. He died Munich in 1826. The purposes of this work are to present some biographical notes on J.B. Ritter von Spix,to explain whythe "Ungula Mandibularis" has been called by the ñame of Spix and why this eponym has been used as such.