Berta S. Gerschman de Pikelin

Berta Sofía Gerschman de Pikelin (28 June 1905 – 29 June 1977) was an Argentine arachnologist who, alongside Rita Delia Schiapelli, was among the first female arachnid specialists in South America, and formed one of the most notable female arachnology teams in Argentina for over forty years.

Biography Gerschman was born in Carlos Casares in Buenos Aires. Gerschman was the daughter of José Gerschman and Manuela Pelman, who were both of Russian descent. She studied at the Instituto Superior del Profesorado Dr. Joaquín V. González, where she qualified as a secondary school teacher of natural sciences in 1928. Gerschman was a student of Irene Bernasconi, the first echinoderm specialist in Argentina and a prominent researcher at the Bernardino Rivadavia Natural Sciences Argentine Museum. Gerschman and Schiapelli primarily studied spiders from the suborder Mygalomorphae, such as tarantulas, discovering and describing new genera and species of spiders. Two genera and twelve species of spiders were named after them in recognition of their academic work. Gerschman and Schiapelli were described as the "Lennon and McCartney of River Plate arachnology".

Tributes The following genera and species were named after Gerschman:

Family Filistatidae, genus Pikelinia, Mello-Leitão, 1946 Family Actinopodidae, species Actinopus gerschiapeliarum, Ríos-Tamayo and Goloboff, 2018 Family Amaurobiidae, species Yacolla pikelinae, Lehtinen, 1967 Family Bothuriuridae, species Bothriurus bertae, Abalos, 1955 Family Anyphaenidae, species Axyracrus gerschmanae, Mello-Leitão, 1938 Family Salticidae, species Scopocira pikelinae, Galiano, 1958 Family Theraphosidae, species Cyriocosmus bertae, Pérez-Miles, 1998 Family Thomisidae, species Misumenoides gerschmanae, Mello-Leitão, 1944