Fermín Zanón Cervera (1875–1944) was a Spanish zoologist, born in Godelleta,

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

. He fought in Cuba in the

Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...

and stayed on after as a member of the Civil Guard prior to becoming a professional naturalist. He worked in the Cuban Ministry of Agriculture and Agronomy where he was conservator of the entomological collection. American

herpetologist Herpetology (from Ancient Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is a branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, salamanders, and caecilians (Gymnophiona)) and reptiles (in ...

Thomas Barbour Thomas Barbour (August 19, 1884 – January 8, 1946) was an American herpetologist. He was the first president of the Dexter School in 1926. From 1927 until 1946, he was director of the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ) founded in 1 ...

had been accompanied by Cervera on his visits to Cuba, and on hearing of the strange birds to be found in the

Zapata Swamp The Zapata Swamp (, ) is a swamp area located on the Zapata Peninsula in the southern Matanzas Province of Cuba, in the municipality of Ciénaga de Zapata. It is located less than southeast of Havana. Species and preservation Within the Zapata S ...

, he sent the Spaniard on a series of trips into the region. There he discovered three bird species new to science that he sent to Barbour for formal description. The binomial names given by Barbour to two of the new species commemorate their finder. * Zapata wren (''Ferminia cerverai'') * Zapata sparrow (''Torreornis inexpectata'') * Zapata rail (''Cyanolimnas cerverai'') The wren, rail and one subspecies of the sparrow are

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to the swamp. Cervera also found many new insects, especially of the order

Neuroptera The insect order (biology), order Neuroptera, or net-winged insects, includes the lacewings, mantidflies, antlions, and their relatives. The order consists of some 6,000 species. Neuroptera is grouped together with the Megaloptera (alderflies, f ...

. In 1927 Cervera returned to Spain to continue working as an entomologist, and remained in his hometown of Godelleta until his death in 1944.

References

External links

Image of Cervera and his Zapata birds at Birding Cuba
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cervera, Fermin Zanon Cuban ornithologists Spanish ornithologists Spanish entomologists 1875 births 1944 deaths Spanish people of the Spanish–American War