Johann Baptist von Spix
Dr. Johann Baptist Ritter von Spix (February 9, 1781 – March 14, 1826) was a German naturalist.
Spix was born in Höchstadt, Middle Franconia, as the seventh of eleven children. His boyhood home is the site of the Spix Museum [1], opened to the public in 2004. After his first fundamental publication, a book about the history of zoological classification, published in 1810, he was appointed as a member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences. In 1817 he travelled to Brazil with Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius, returning in 1820 with specimens of 6,500 plants, 2,700 insects, 85 mammals, 350 birds, 150 amphibians and 116 fish. These formed the basis of the collection of the Natural History Museum in Munich, of which he was the first conservator (now about equal to director). Among his discoveries was Spix's Macaw, which is named after him.[1]
Spix died in Munich.
Works
- Geschichte und Beurtheilung aller Systeme in der Zoologie nach ihrer Entwicklungsfolge von Aristoteles bis auf die gegenwärtige Zeit. 1811 - Nürnberg, Schrag'sche Buchhandlung I-XIV; 710pp.
In addition to the 4-volume narrative of the expedition, Reise in Brasilien in den Jahren 1817 bis 1820 (Munich,1823-1831), the publications arising directly from the Spix-Martius collections include:
- Simiarum et Vespertilionum Brasiliensium Species Novae [monkeys and bats], 1823, by Spix. From Smithsonian Institution Libraries
- Serpentum Brasiliensium Species Novae [snakes], 1824, by J.G. Wagler, from Spix's notes
- Animalia Nova sive Species Novae Testudinum et Ranarum [turtles and frogs], 1824, by Spix
- Animalia Nova sive Species Novae Lacertarum [lizards], 1825, by Spix
- Avium Species Novae [birds], 1824-1825, by Spix
- Testacea Fluviatilia... [freshwater mollusks], 1827, by A.J. Wagner
- Selecta Genera et Species Piscium [fish], 1829[-1831], by Louis Agassiz
- Delectus Animalium Articulatorum [insects], 1830, by Maximilian Perty
- Novae Genera et Species Plantarum [plants], 1823-1832, by Martius
- Plantarum Cryptogamicarum [cryptogams], 1828, by Martius
References
- ^ Ellis, Richard (2004). No Turning Back: The Life and Death of Animal Species. New York: Harper Perennial. p. 270. ISBN 0-06-055804-0.
- Fittkau, E. J. 1995: Johann Baptist Ritter von Spix. Rundgespräche d. Kommission f. Ökologie, Tropenforschung. - Bayer. Akad. d. Wissenschaften. 10: 29-38
External links
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