Miquel Crusafont, George Simpson y la internacionalización de los estudios de paleontología evolutiva en España

Abstract

Catalan palaeontologist Miquel Crusafont Pairó (1910-1983) was a leading specialist on fossil mammals of the Iberian Tertiary. He also introduced new quantitative approaches to biological evolution into Spain. Despite many difficulties in carrying out research on evolution in Franco's Spain, Crusafont achieved an outstanding position in the international community of palaeontologists. Besides being a competent scientist, he benefitted from the friendship of American palaeontologist George Gaylord Simpson (1902-1984), a major proponent of the evolutionary synthesis. This paper explores the relationship between both scientists and stresses the crucial role that Simpson played in the internationalization of Crusafont's work.