Alfred Newton

This article describes the British ornithologist, for the American entomologist, see Alfred Francis Newton .

Alfred Newton

Alfred Newton (born June 11, 1829 in Geneva , Switzerland , † June 7, 1907 in Cambridge , England ) was an English zoologist and ornithologist.

Live and act

Newton studied at Magdalene College, Cambridge University , where he graduated with a BA in 1853 and also received his MA. In 1854 he made numerous trips to many regions of the world, such as Lapland , Iceland , Svalbard , the West Indies and North America on behalf of Magdalene College . In 1866 he became the first professor of zoology and comparative anatomy at Cambridge , a position he held until his death.

In 1858, Alfred Newton was one of the founding members of the British Ornithologists' Union . He wrote many books, including Zoology of Ancient Europe (1862), Ootheca Wolleyana (started in 1864), Zoology (1872), and A Dictionary of Birds (1893-1896). He also wrote many articles for scientific societies and was editor of the journals Ibis (1865-1870), The Zoological Record (1870-1872) and Yarrell's British Birds (1871-1882).

Newton spent some time studying extinct species of Mascarene birds , from where his brother Sir Edward Newton sent him bone material. This included the dodo and the Rodrigues solitaire . In 1872 he was the first person to describe the Rodrigues parakeet ( Psittacula exsul ), a species that became extinct around 1875.

Newton died in Cambridge in 1907 and was buried in Huntingdon Road cemetery in Cambridge.

Honors

In 1870 Newton was elected as a member (" Fellow ") in the Royal Society , which in 1900 awarded him the Royal Medal "for his outstanding contributions to ornithology and the geographic distribution of animals " . In the same year he received the Linné Medal from the Linnean Society of London . In 1905 he was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh .

Fonts

• Zoology of Ancient Europe, Cambridge Philosophical Society, Macmillan 1862
• Ootheca Wolleyana. Part 1: An illustrated catalog of the collection of birds' eggs formed by the late John Wolley, Part 2: Eggs of the native birds of Britain and list of British birds, past and present, 1864, 1902, 1905, 1907
• Zoology, 1872
• Manual of Zoology, London, Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1874, Archives
• Dictionary of Birds, London: Black 1893 to 1896 (with contributions by Hans Gadow, Richard Lydekker, Charles S. Roy and Robert Shufeldt)
• The Dodo, in the Encyclopedia Britannica, 9th edition, 1877
• Ornithology, Encyclopedia Britannica, 9th edition 1884

Web links

• Alfred Newton , entry in the Encyclopædia Britannica from 1911

supporting documents

1. ↑ ^{a b c} entry on Newton; Alfred (1829-1907) in the Archives of the Royal Society , London
2. ^ Fellows Directory. Biographical Index: Former RSE Fellows 1783–2002. (PDF file) Royal Society of Edinburgh, accessed March 24, 2020 .