August of furs

August Pelzel von Pelzeln (born May 10, 1825 in Prague , † September 2, 1891 in Oberdöbling ) was an Austrian ornithologist . For 40 years he collected mammals and birds for the Imperial Museum of Vienna .

biography

August von Pelzeln was the grandson of the Austrian poet Caroline Pichler (1769–1843). His sister Marie was a writer. After graduating from the Schottengymnasium , he studied law at the University of Vienna and then worked in the civil service at the district office in Vienna. In 1851 he became assistant to the helminthologist Karl Moriz Diesing in the Hof-Naturalien-Cabinet . In 1857 he took over the position of curator from Johann Jakob Heckel and held this position until 1888.

From April 30, 1857 to August 30, 1859, August von Pelzeln belonged to Ferdinand von Hochstetter (1829–1884), Georg von Frauenfeld (1807–1873), Franz Steindachner (1834–1919), Ludwig Redtenbacher (1814–1876) and Johann Zelebor (1819–1869) was one of the scientists who took part in the circumnavigation of the world by the Austrian frigate Novara . The expedition was sponsored by Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian of Austria and led by Commodore Bernhard von Wüllerstorf-Urbair (1816–1883). The route led from Trieste via Gibraltar to Rio de Janeiro in Cape Town around the Cape of Good Hope continue on the Amsterdam Island , Saint Paul Island to India , Java , Philippines , Australia , New Zealand , Tahiti , Valparaíso to Cape Horn around back to Europe. Karl von Scherzer wrote a work about this trip with contributions from von Pelzeln. In addition, von Pelzeln is the author of “Ornithology Brasileiras” (1871) and “Contributions to the ornithology of South Africa” (1882). In 1869 he was elected a member of the Leopoldina .

August von Pelzeln first described species of birds like the White Wing nightjar ( Caprimulgus candicans ), the Pelzelnameisenschlüpfer ( Myrmotherula assimilis ), the gray forehead panties ( Synallaxis frontal ), the Hooded Seedeater ( Sporophila melanops ) or krüper's nuthatch ( Sitta krueperi ).

Otto Finsch named the Pelzelnstar ( Aplonis pelzelni ) in honor of August von Pelzeln. Gustav Hartlaub paid for pelts in the type epithet of the Madagascar little diver ( Tachybaptus pelzelnii ). More Dedikationsnamen are the Pelzelngazelle ( Gazella pelzelni ), the Planalto Tropfenameisenwürger ( Thamnophilus pelzelni ), the monk Weber ( ploceus pelzelni ), the Amazonian Finke Waldsänger ( Granatellus pelzelni ), the Brown bully ( Elaenia pelzelni ), the Tüpfelwangen-Ameisenvogel ( Myrmeciza pelzelni ) and the bronze tyrant ( Pseudotriccus pelzelni ).

Birds . From the Koiserlich-Königliche Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, Vienna 1865 doi: 10.5962 / bhl.title.14204
On the ornithology of Brazil . A. Pichler's Witwe & Sohn, Vienna 1871 doi: /10.5962/bhl.title.3654
Contributions to the ornithology of South Africa . A. Hölder, Vienna 1882 doi: 10.5962 / bhl.title.66074
Brazilian mammals . A. Hölder, Vienna 1883 doi: 10.5962 / bhl.title.8930
A study of the ancestry of dog breeds In: Zoological yearbooks : Department for systematics, ecology and geography of animals, 1, pp. 225-240, 1886 PDF, online
Monograph of the Pipridae or Manakin Birds . Budapest 1887, doi: 10.5962 / bhl.title.49770

Bo Beolens & Michael Watkins (2003). Whose Bird? Common Bird Names and the People They Commemorate. Yale University Press (New Haven & London).
Maurice Boubier (1925). L'Évolution de l'ornithologie. Librairie Félix Alcan (Paris), Nouvelle collection scientifique: ii + 308 p.
K. Bauer: Pelzel von Felzeln August. In: Austrian Biographical Lexicon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Volume 7, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 1978, ISBN 3-7001-0187-2 , p. 401 f. (Direct links on p. 401 , p. 402 ).
Karl von Scherzer. Journey of the Austrian frigate Novara around the earth, in the years 1857, 1858, 1859 under the orders of Commodore B. Von Wullerstorf-Urbair .