Johann Maria Hildebrandt

Johann Maria Hildebrandt
Born13 or 19 March 1847
Düsseldorf, Germany
Died29 May 1881 (1881-05-30) (aged 34)
Madagascar
Occupations
  • Explorer
  • collector
  • scientist

Johann Maria Hildebrandt (born 13 or 19 March 1847; died 29 May 1881) was a German explorer, collector, and scientist.

Biography

Hildebrandt's starling
Encephalartos hildebrandtii

Hildebrandt was born in Düsseldorf, Germany, to a family of painters. Originally a machine maker, he lost an eye after an accident and became a gardener, eventually starting work in 1869 for the Berlin Botanical Garden. Between 1872 and 1881, Hildebrandt made a number of expeditions to the Horn of Africa and the African Great Lakes, collecting a large number of botanical and zoological specimens. His expeditions were for the most part modest affairs, but he discovered a number of new species. He also lectured widely and wrote about many aspects of the places he visited.

Hildebrandt died of a fever and stomach bleeding whilst on an expedition to Madagascar and was buried in the Norwegian Cemetery in Ambatovinaky. He gave his name to a number of species, including Hildebrandt's starling (Lamprotornis hildebrandti), the cycad Encephalartos hildebrandtii and Hildebrandt's spurfowl (Pternistis hildebrandti), all of which he discovered in Kenya in the African Great Lakes region.[1] Hildebrandt is commemorated in the scientific names of three species of reptiles: Hemirhagerrhis hildebrandtii, Paracontias hildebrandti, and Trachylepis hildebrandtii.[2] One frog genus, Hildebrandtia, bears his name.[3]

References

  1. ^ Beentje, H. J. (1998). "J. M. Hildebrandt (1847 – 1881): Notes on His Travels and Plant Collections". Kew Bulletin. 53 (4): 835–856. doi:10.2307/4118872. JSTOR 4118872.
  2. ^ Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Hildebrandt, p. 123).
  3. ^ Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2013). The Eponym Dictionary of Amphibians. Exeter, England: Pelagic Publishing. p. 95. ISBN 978-1-907807-42-8.