LEONARDI, PIERO

born Jan. 29, 1908, Valdobbiadene, Italy Italian geologist and prehistorian, known for his research on the stratigraphy and paleontology of the Triassic invertebrates (from 190,000,000 to 225,000,000 years ago) and the Permian vertebrates (from 225,000,000 to 280,000,000 years ago). Leonardi was a fellow at the University of Ferrara, Italy (193549), where he later served as professor of geology and director of the geology institute. His works include studies of the tectonics (the movement and deformation of the Earth's surface) and stratigraphy (the description and interpretation of rock successions) of the Dolomite Alps and development of a new theory on their evolution. He also discovered a new Mousterian prehistoric culture, the Bernardinian. He wrote L'evoluzione dei viventi (1950; The Evolution of Living Things), Carlo Darwin (1966), Le Dolomiti (1967), and Trattato di geologia (1963; Treatise of Geology).