Dear Morphometricians, Marco Corti died on January 9, 2007 after seven years of an unremitting fight against cancer. He was 56 years old.
Marco was one of the first Italian PhDs, entering the Doctoral school in its first year of activity at the University of Rome ‘La Sapienza’ in 1983. At the time of his death, he was Associate Professor at the University of Rome ‘La Sapienza’, where he taught Comparative Anatomy and, more recently, Morphometrics. Marco was a friend and a colleague to many of us. For almost two decades, we shared the development and growth of geometric morphometrics. He even may have been the first to use the term “geometric morphometrics” (1). He was a leading figure in Italian morphometrics and organized many national and international workshops, including the 1993 NATO ASI with Leslie Marcus. His scientific research was mostly dedicated to the study of systematics and the mechanisms of speciation in mammals, especially rodents. He was an eclectic scientist, always exploring the frontiers of knowledge and taking advantage of promising new techniques or tools for the study of evolutionary processes, systematics and phylogenetic patterns. He was one of the Italian pioneers to explore and promote not only geometric morphometrics, but also multivariate morphometrics, cladistics (he was a close friend of George Estabrook) and, more recently, molecular phylogeny and phylogeography. His constant attention to the international scientific community is witnessed by his many collaborations around the world, from Les Marcus in the US to Roger Thorpe in UK and Eric and Walter Verheyen in Belgium; from Eviatar Nevo in Israel to Cristina Aguilera in Venezuela, from Jennifer Jarvis in South Africa to Afework Bekele in Ethiopia, and many others. We will all miss his scientific advice, style and friendship. Marco is survived by his wife, Maria Laura (Lalla) Fabbri, and two daughters Margherita (age 17) and Marianna (age 14). (1) Corti M. 1993 - Geometric morphometrics: an extension of the revolution. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 8: 302-303. Submitted by: Anna Loy, Dennis E. Slice and F. James Rohlf -- Replies will be sent to the list. For more information visit http://www.morphometrics.org
