Lorenz Müller (herpetologist)

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Lorenz Müller (born February 18, 1868 in Mainz , † February 1, 1953 in Munich ) was a German herpetologist .

Live and act

Müller first studied art and then went to Paris , Belgium and the Netherlands . From a very early age he was fascinated by terrariums and studied many amphibians and reptiles. Two crucial contacts were the scientists Oskar Boettger (1844–1910) and Willy Wolterstorff (1884–1943), who strongly promoted Müller's herpetological research.

Lorenz Müller started out as an illustrator at the Zoological State Collection in Munich . However, since the herpetological department did not have a conservator , he became a curator in 1903 . This very old and extensive collection includes, among others, preparations by Johann Baptist von Spix (1781–1826) and Johann Georg Wagler (1800–1832). Under Müller's direction from 1912, the herpetological section was constantly enlarged.

From 1909 to 1910 Lorenz Müller took part in an expedition to the Amazon region. In 1928 he became chief curator of the zoological department in the Munich State Zoological Collection. During the First World War he served in the Balkans and did most of the herpetological research.

In the 1920s, Müller conducted intensive studies on the wall lizards ( Podarcis ) of the Balearic Islands . He described several new subspecies, including the now extinct form Podarcis lilfordi rodriquezi .

In 1948 he handed over the management of the herpetological department to Walter Hellmich and devoted himself to the reconstruction of the badly damaged Zoological State Collection in Munich. In 1953 he died of bronchitis at the age of 85 . Müller published over 100 scientific articles on herpetofauna .

Works (selection)

  • About a new gecko from Cameroon and a new colubrine snake from Central China . In: Zoologischer Anzeiger Leipzig . 1907, Volume 31, pp. 824-830 ( biodiversitylibrary.org )
  • Contributions to the herpetology of Cameroon , 1910
  • Zoological results of a trip to the mouth of the Amazon: General remarks on the fauna and flora of the area visited . Volume 1. Verlag of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences, 1912
  • On a new species of the genus Pipa from Northern Brazil . In: Annals And Magazine of Natural History . 1914, Volume 14, pp. 101-102 ( biodiversitylibrary.org )
  • About New and Rare Central and South American Amphibians and Reptiles , 1923
  • Research trips by Stromer in the deserts of Egypt. V. Tertiary Vertebrates: 1. Contributions to the knowledge of the crocodilians of the Egyptian Tertiary . Publishing house of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences, 1927 (with Bernhard Peyer , Wilhelm Weiler and Kálmán Lambrecht )
  • List of amphibians and reptiles in Europe . Treatises of the Senckenberg Natural Research Society. Book 41 (1): p. 1–62, 1928 (with Robert Mertens )
  • Reptiles and Amphibians (Scientific Results of the German Gran Chaco Expedition) Vol. 1. (with Walter Hellmich ), Strecker and Schröder Verlag, Stuttgart, 1936

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Müller, Lorenz
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German herpetologist
DATE OF BIRTH February 18, 1868
PLACE OF BIRTH Mainz
DATE OF DEATH February 1, 1953
Place of death Munich