Walter Norman Koelz

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Walter Koelz with a bearded vulture in the Himalayas

Walter Norman Koelz (born September 11, 1895 in Waterloo , Michigan , † September 24, 1989 there ) was an American naturalist and anthropologist . His main interests were birds. He also collected plant and fish samples as well as anthropological artifacts .

Live and act

Walter Koelz's parents were German-American , Swabian immigrants from the Black Forest . His father worked as a village blacksmith in Waterloo. Koelz studied zoology and was awarded a Ph.D. PhD from the University of Michigan . In 1925 he took part in the McMillan expedition to the American Arctic . While working at the University of Michigan, he studied the Coregoninae at the Institute for Fisheries Research. In 1930 he became head of the biological department at the Himalaya Research Institute of Nicholas Roerich in the Kullu Valley in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh . In nearby Naggar he carried out botanical studies. In 1932 he returned to Michigan. Koelz was very interested in Tibetan culture. This led him to accept a post as a research fellow at the University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology (UMMA) in September 1932, financially supported by the Charles L. Freer Fund.

In the summer of 1933 Koelz came to British India in the Himalayas , where he collected anthropological material. In 1936 he traveled to India again to collect plants. From 1939 to 1946 Koelz went on expeditions to Persia , Nepal and parts of India, including Assams , where he amassed a large collection of birds. A book entitled Persian Diary: 1939–1941 was published in 1983 about his research in Persia .

In 1956 Koelz received the Frank N. Meyer Memorial Award (donated in honor of the crop researcher Frank Nicholas Meyer (1875-1918)) from the American Genetic Association for his outstanding services to agriculture. He found a disease-resistant wild melon in Calcutta that was used to improve melon cultivation in California in the 1950s.

Koelz collected over 60,500 bird hides . 32,723 of these are in the ornithological collection of the University of Michigan Zoological Museum (UMMZ). Approximately 8,500 specimens are kept in the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH). His approximately 30,000 plant specimens are in the University of Michigan herbarium and other major herbaria in the United States.

Dedication names

The taxa Aethopyga nipalensis koelzi (subspecies of the green-tailed nectar bird ), Sitta cinnamoventris koelzi (subspecies of the cinnamon belly glue ), Margariscus margarita koelzi and Amphistichus koelzi are named after Koelz .

Publications (selection)

  • Koelz, W. (1921) Description of a new cisco from the Great Lakes . Occ. Pap. Mus. Zool. U. Michigan 104: 1-4. http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/13902351
  • van Tyne, J; Koelz, W (1936). Seven new birds from the Punjab . Occ. Pap. Mus. Zool. U. Michigan 334: 1-6.
  • Koelz, W. (1937) Notes on the birds of Spiti, a Himalayan province of the Punjab . Ibis. 14 (1): 86-104. doi: 10.1111 / j.1474-919x.1937.tb02164.x .
  • Koelz, W. (1939) Additions to the avifaunal list of Lahul . Ibis. 14 3 (2): 354-356. doi: 10.1111 / j.1474-919x.1939.tb03986.x .
  • Koelz, W. (1939) Three new subspecies of birds . Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington 52: 121-122.
  • Koelz, W. (1939) New birds from Asia, chiefly from India . Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington 52: 61-82.
  • Koelz, W. (1940) Notes on the birds of Zanskar and Purig, with appendices giving new records for Ladakh, Rupshu, and Kulu . Papers Michigan Acad. Sci. Arts Letters 25: 297-322.
  • Koelz, W. (1940) Notes on the winter birds of the lower Punjab . Papers Michigan Acad. Sci. Arts Letters 25: 323-356.
  • Koelz, W. (1942) Notes on the birds of the Londa neighborhood, Bombay Presidency . JBNHS. 43 (1): 11-38.
  • Koelz, W. (1947) Notes on a collection of birds from Madras Presidency . JBNHS. 47 (1): 128-142.
  • Koelz, W. (1949) A new hawk from India . Auk 66 (1): 82-83. doi: 10.2307 / 4080678 .
  • Koelz, W. (1950) New subspecies of birds from southwestern Asia . At the. Mus. Novit 1452: 1-10.
  • Koelz, W. (1951) Four new subspecies of birds from southwestern Asia . At the. Mus. Novit 1510: 1-3.
  • Koelz, W. (1951) New birds from India . J. Zool. Soc. India 3 (1): 27-30.
  • Koelz, W. (1952) New races of Indian birds . J. Zool. Soc. India 4 (1): 37-46.
  • Koelz, W. (1952) New races of Assam birds . J. Zool. Soc. India 4 (2): 153-155.
  • Koelz, W. (1954) Ornithological studies I. New birds from Iran, Afghanistan, and India . Contrib. Institute Regional Explorations 1: 1-32.
  • Koelz, W. (1954) Ornithological studies III. On the validity of Galerida malabarica propinqua Koelz . Contrib. Institute Regional exploration 1:33.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Barbara Mearns & Richard Mearns: The Bird Collectors Academic Press, 1998, p. 286
personal data
SURNAME Koelz, Walter Norman
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Koelz, Walter; Koelz, Walter N.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American naturalist and anthropologist
DATE OF BIRTH September 11, 1895
PLACE OF BIRTH Waterloo , Michigan
DATE OF DEATH September 24, 1989
Place of death Waterloo , Michigan