Santiago Roth

Santiago Roth (14 June 1850 – 4 August 1924) was a Swiss Argentine paleontologist and academic known for his fossil collections and Patagonian expeditions.

Life Kaspar Jakob (Spanish: Santiago) was born and raised in Herisau,

For economic reasons the Roth family emigrated to Argentina in 1866, where they initially settled in the Colonia Baradero (Buenos Aires Province). There, Roth started a small business with leather goods. In his spare time he collected plants, butterflies and rocks. He married Elisabeth Schuetz, a teacher educated in Switzerland, who emigrated with her family to Argentina in 1872 as well.

After finding his first fossils he became an ardent explorer and collector of extinct mammals. Already in 1878 he was able to sell a collection of fossils to Dr. Laussen, a Dane, who gave these bones to the Museum of Zoology in Copenhagen.

Roth was continuously looking for buyers to generate income for his large family. Such an opportunity arose in 1887 when he traveled to Switzerland with his family. The Swiss geologist Prof. Albert Heim, ETH Zurich had recommended that the Swiss authorities should buy his collection nr. 5. A special exhibition including the Roth collection was organized in 2000. During his stay in Switzerland he joined Albert Heim on his hydrogeological excursions to study subterranean water flows. These experiences were of much value in his country of residence, Argentina.

Roth extended his range of paleontological expeditions to Patagonia, including the areas along the Rio Negro, Limay River and Chubut River, partly together with F. Machon, another researcher from Switzerland from 1885 to 1891. Roth defined the order of Notoungulata as a category of prehistoric hoofed mammals found only in South America.

Roth was named professor for paleontology at the National University of La Plata in 1905. as is the fossil mammal Santiagorothia.

Literature Fernández, M.: Catalogue des principales publications du Prof. Dr. Santiago Roth, in: Machon F.: Le géologue Prof. Dr. Santiago Roth, 1850-1924, Verh. Schweizerische Naturforschende Gesellschaft, Aarau 1925, pp. 35–41 (including list of work) Kraglievich, L.: En Memoria del Doctor Santiago Roth, Geólogo y Paleontólogo, Physis, Buenos Aires, 1925/7, pp. 412–417