Carlo von Erlanger
Carlo von Erlanger (5 September 1872 - 4 September 1904) was a German ornithologist and explorer born in Ingelheim am Rhein. He was a cousin to muscicologist Rodolphe d'Erlanger (1872-1932).
He studied ornithology at the University of Lausanne, afterwards performing wildlife studies in the Tunisian desert (1893-1897). On his return to Europe he continued his studies at Cambridge and Berlin. In 1900-01 with Oscar Rudolph Neumann (1867-1946), he performed scientific investigations in East Africa (present day countries of Ethiopia and Somalia), an expedition where many thousands of insect and avian specimens were collected. Erlanger died in an automobile accident in Salzburg on September 4, 1904, one day shy of his 32nd birthday.
Erlanger is credited with naming 40 new ornithological taxa, and has several zoological species named after him, such as:
- Erlanger's Lark, Calandrella erlangeri (Neumann 1906)
- Ptychadena erlangeri (Ahl, 1924); an Ethiopian frog.
- Somali Boubou, Laniarius erlangeri (Reichenow, 1905)
- Erlanger’s gazelle, Gazella erlangeri (Neumann, 1906)[1]
His name is also associated with the subspecies Madoqua saltiana erlangeri Neumann, 1905).[2]
Written works
- Eine ornithologische Forschungsreise durch Tunesien (1898)
- Meine Reise durch Sud-Schoa, Galla und die Somal-Lander (1902)
- Forschungsreise durch Sud-Schoa, Galla und die Somali-lander. Beitrage zur vogelfauna Nordostafrikas, mit besonderer berucksichtigung der zoogeographie
References
- The eponym dictionary of mammals by Bo Beolens, Michael Watkins, Michael Grayson (biographical information)
- Parts of this article are based on a translation of an article on Carlo von Erlangen from the German Wikipedia.
- World Cat Identities (list of publications)