Christian Miguel Pinto

Christian Miguel Pinto Baez (born January 3, 1981, in Quito, Ecuador), often stated as C. Miguel Pinto or Miguel Pinto, is an Ecuadorian zoologist noted for his research work on rodents, small carnivora, and bats from the Neotropics (in particular in Ecuador, Argentina, and Colombia) and their parasites. He worked as a research scientist at the Department of Mammalogy of the American Museum of Natural History[1] until he was banned from the Smithsonian because of sexual harassment findings,[2] and as of November 2016, held a research position at the National Polytechnic School in Quito, Ecuador.[2]

Career

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In 2004, he described the bat species Lophostoma yasuni from the Yasuni National Park in Ecuador (together with René M. Fonseca). In 2006, he was among a team (including Roland Kays, Kristofer M. Helgen, Lauren Helgen, Don E. Wilson, and Jesús E. Maldonado) who did research work on a new olingo-like carnivore in the Ecuadorian Andes which was scientifically described as olinguito in 2013.[3] In 2012, he was recipient of the Albert R. and Alma Shadle Fellowship[4] In 2013, he described the new shrew opossum Caenolestes sangay from Ecuador.[5]

Pinto has been accused of a number of instances of sexual harassment,[6] some of which he admitted,[2] and as a result in 2016 was banned from the laboratories and collections of the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.[2][7]

References

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  1. ^ Curriculum vitae of C. Miguel Pinto – AMNH research sites
  2. ^ a b c d Balter, Michael (3 November 2016). "Smithsonian bans admitted sexual harasser". The Verge. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
  3. ^ Helgen, Kristofer M.; Pinto, Miguel; Kays, Roland; Helgen, Lauren; Tsuchiya, Mirian; Quinn, Aleta; Wilson, Don; Maldonado, Jesus (2013). Taxonomic revision of the olingos (Bassaricyon), with description of a new species, the Olinguito. ZooKeys 324: 1. doi:10.3897/zookeys.324.5827
  4. ^ "2012 Shadle Fellowship - Christian Miguel Pinto Baez". The American Society of Mammalogists. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
  5. ^ Ojala-Barbour, Reed; C. Miguel Pinto; Jorge Brito M.; Luis Albuja V.; Thomas E. Lee, Jr; Bruce D. Patterson (October 2013). "A new species of shrew-opossum (Paucituberculata: Caenolestidae) with a phylogeny of extant caenolestids". Journal of Mammalogy. 94 (5). American Society of Mammalogists: 967–982. doi:10.1644/13-MAMM-A-018.1. ISSN 1545-1542. Retrieved 2013-10-16.
  6. ^ Balter, Michael (24 October 2016). "From Texas to the Smithsonian, following a trail of sexual misconduct". The Verge. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
  7. ^ Chapin, Angelina (21 November 2017). "Apologizing For Predatory Behavior Requires More Than Saying 'I'm Sorry'". HuffPost UK. Retrieved 6 April 2018.