Hans Edmund Wolters

Wolters (1971)

Hans Edmund Wolters (born February 11, 1915 in Duisburg ; † December 22, 1991 ) was a German ornithologist .

Live and act

Wolters spent his childhood in Geilenkirchen . After the Second World War he worked as a school teacher. In 1960 he became an extraordinary member of the Koenig Museum in Bonn, where he was employed on a voluntary basis in the ornithology department. In 1966 he was appointed curator and later chief curator of the bird department. In 1973 Wolters took over the management of the ornithological department at Museum Koenig. From 1974 to 1979 he was editor of the museum journals Bonn zoological contributions and Bonn zoological monographs . Even after his retirement in 1980, Hans Wolters continued to work for the ornithology department.

Wolter's research focus was the systematics of birds, in particular the specific and supraspecific relationships of the avian taxa . He carried out detailed studies within the order of the passerine birds , primarily on the families of the finches , the nectar birds and the weaver birds . In 1974 he wrote the first scientific description of the Ballmannweber ( Malimbus ballmanni ).

Wolters was among the first European taxonomists to use a cladistic classification for avian phylogeny . This system formed the basis for his main work Die Vogelarten der Erde , which was published between 1975 and 1982. In this book, Wolters not only published the most extensive German-language list of trivial names to date , but he also coined many new sub-genres . In 1983, The Birds of Europe in the System of Birds appeared in which Wolters made a number of changes to his previous classifications.

Honors and Dedication Names

In 1971 Wolters received an honorary doctorate from the University of Bonn . In 1982 he was elected to the Committee for Ornithological Nomenclature within the International Ornithological Committee. In 1988 he became an honorary member of the German Ornithological Society . In 1982 Wolters became a corresponding member and in 1991 an honorary member of the American Ornithologists' Union .

Henri Schouteden named 1956 subspecies Lonchura bicolor woltersi of Glanzelsterchens and Hans Kumerloeve named 1969 subspecies Calandrella brachydactyla woltersi the short-toed lark in honor of Hans Wolters Edmund.

Works (selection)

• 1950: Contributions to the species classification of birds (with Hans von Boetticher )
• 1963: Birds in Cages and Aviaries: A Handbook for Bird Lovers: Magnificent Finches , Vol. 2 (with Klaus Immelmann and Joachim Steinbacher )
• 1965: Prachtfinken Vol. 1 (with Klaus Immelmann and Joachim Steinbacher)
• 1971: Mammals and Rare Birds in the National Parks of East Africa (with John George Williams)
• 1973: The Birds of East and Central Africa (with John George Williams)
• 1975–1982: The bird species of the earth: A systematic list with distribution information as well as German and English names , 7 volumes
• 1983: The birds of Europe in the system of birds: an overview

literature

• Karl L. Schuchmann & Walter J. Bock: In memoriam: Hans Edmund Wolters, 1915-1991. In: The Auk 109 (4), 1992: pp. 907-908 PDF file; 147 kB)