George Ernest Shelley
George Ernest Shelley (born May 15, 1840 in Brighton , † November 29, 1910 in Bournemouth ) was a British geologist and ornithologist. He was the nephew of the English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley .
After completing school in England and the Lycée de Versailles , he joined the Grenadier Guard in 1863 , where he achieved the rank of captain a few years later. On behalf of the South African government, he went on a geological research trip. Later he also explored Egypt. In 1889 he married Janet Andrews. From this marriage a daughter and two sons were born.
Shelley's standard ornithological works include: Catalog of the Picariæ in the Collection of the British Museum. Scansores and Coccyges containing the families Indicatoridæ, Capitonidæ, Cuculidæ, and Musophagidæ (1874), A Monograph of the Cinnyridæ, or Family of Sun Birds (1876–1877), A Handbook to the Birds of Egypt (1878) and A Monograph of the Nectariniidae (1880). His main work The Birds of Africa appeared in five volumes between 1896 and 1912. The last part of the work was completed by William Lutley Sclater (1863-1944) and published posthumously.
In 1906, a fit of nausea put an end to his work. His collection, which consists of 7235 preserved specimens, is kept in the British Museum .
Shelley described 37 African bird taxa for the first time scientifically, including the pale swift ( Apus pallidus ), the strawberry head ( Agapornis lilianae ), the Granta deer ( Pyrenestes minor ), the redhead seedcracker ( Spermophaga ruficapilla ) and the brown banded plover ( Charadrius forbesi ). Also, several species of birds are named after Shelley, such as the Shelley's Eagle-Owl ( Bubo shelleyi ), the Rotmantelastrild ( Cryptospiza shelleyi ), the Shelleyfrankolin ( Francolinus shelleyi ) and the scarlet breast Nektarvogel ( Cinnyris shelleyi ).
literature
- Richard Edgcumbe: XII.-Obituary Captain George Ernest Shelley . In: The Ibis (= 9 ). tape 5 , no. 18 , 1919, pp. 369-376 ( biodiversitylibrary.org ).
Web links
- Short biography
- People after whom birds were named ... ( Memento from April 27, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
- Literature list in the online catalog of the Berlin State Library
- General Register Office Index: - June 1/4 1840, Dorking
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Shelley, George Ernest |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British geologist and ornithologist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 15, 1840 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Brighton |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 29, 1910 |
| Place of death | Bournemouth |