A founding father of reptile and amphibian medicine, Professor Dr. Peernel (Peer) Zwart passed away on 26 January 2024. He has had a huge influence on the establishment of herpetological medicine, and with his work disseminated in English, Dutch, German, and French, was able to reach a wide and diverse audience. With his curly moustache and bolo tie, Peer was a distinguished professor in pathology at Utrecht University in The Netherlands. He obtained his veterinary degree in 1955 and gradually climbed the academic ladder until he was appointed as a professor of diseases of exotic animals and pathology of laboratory animals in 1980. During his professional career he developed a keen interest in reptile and amphibian pathology, which, freed of the chains of academic duties, he passionately continued after his retirement in 1990. He was one of the first to discover that reptiles are major reservoirs for Salmonella, and...
