Heinrich Agathon Bernstein

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Heinrich Agathon Bernstein (born September 22, 1828 in Breslau , † April 18, 1865 in Salawati ) was a German ornithologist , naturalist and bird collector.

Live and act

Bernstein was the son of a doctor and orientalist. After studying medicine and natural sciences, he became the director of a sanatorium in Gadok on Java in 1854 . During this time he studied the Javanese avifauna and wrote articles on about 70 species. By examining the salivary glands of the salangans , he was able to provide evidence for the first time of what material the edible swallow nests are made of. Between 1859 and 1864 he wrote important articles about bird eggs and bird nests in the Journal für Ornithologie . In 1859, Hermann Schlegel , then director of the Natural History Museum in Leiden , became aware of amber. On behalf of the Dutch government, he traveled to New Guinea on zoogeographic expeditions . Bernstein chose Ternate as his base and between 1861 and 1863 he explored many islands in the northern Moluccas . In 1864 he sailed again to New Guinea to collect birds of paradise . In January 1865, however, he was caught up in bloody fighting with the natives and had to withdraw from the country. Soon afterwards he fell ill with a tropical disease from which he died in April 1865. Amber left about 2000 bird hides in the museum in Leiden . In 1861 Bernstein received an honorary membership in the German Ornithological Society . He was also a member of the Leopoldina since 1854 . One of the animal taxa described by Bernstein is the ant species Odontomachus macrorhynchus from the island of Java.

Taxa named after amber

The following bird species are named after amber : the amber tern ( Thalasseus bernsteini ), the sula chicken ( Megapodius bernsteinii ), the scarlet breast pigeon ( Ptilinopus bernsteinii ) and the amber cuckoo ( Centropus bernsteini ).

literature

personal data
SURNAME Bernstein, Heinrich Agathon
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German naturalist, ornithologist and zoological collector of bird hides
DATE OF BIRTH September 22, 1828
PLACE OF BIRTH Wroclaw
DATE OF DEATH April 18, 1865
Place of death Salawati