Johann Christian Daniel von Schreber (17 January 1739 in

Weißensee, Thuringia Weißensee (German for "white lake") is a town in the district of Sömmerda, in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated 6 km northwest of Sömmerda, and 25 km north of Erfurt. The former municipality Herrnschwende was merged into Weißens ...

– 10 December 1810 in

Erlangen Erlangen (; East Franconian: ''Erlang'', Bavarian: ''Erlanga'') is a Middle Franconian city in Bavaria, Germany. It is the seat of the administrative district Erlangen-Höchstadt (former administrative district Erlangen), and with 116,062 inha ...

), often styled J.C.D. von Schreber, was a German naturalist.

Career

He was appointed professor of'' materia medica'' at the University of Erlangen in 1769. In 1774, he began writing a multivolume set of books entitled ''Die Säugethiere in Abbildungen nach der Natur mit Beschreibungen'', which focused on the

mammal Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur ...

s of the world. Many of the animals included were given a scientific name for the first time, following the binomial system of

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, ...

. From 1791 until his death in 1810, he was the president of the

German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina The German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (german: Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina – Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften), short Leopoldina, is the national academy of Germany, and is located in Halle (Saale). Founde ...

. He was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1787. In April 1795, he was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemati ...

Numerous honors were bestowed on him, including the office of an

imperial count palatine An imperial count palatine ( la, comes palatinus caesareus, german: Kaiserlicher Hofpfalzgraf) was an official in the Holy Roman Empire with quasi-monarchical (" palatine") powers. In all, over 5,000 imperial counts palatine were created between th ...

. Schreber also wrote on

entomology Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as ara ...

, notably ''Schreberi Novae Species Insectorvm''. His

herbarium A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant specimens and associated data used for scientific study. The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sheet of paper (calle ...

collection has been preserved in the

Botanische Staatssammlung München The Botanische Staatssammlung München is a notable herbarium and scientific center maintained by thStaatliche Naturwissenschaftliche Sammlungen Bayerns Its building is located within the Botanischer Garten München-Nymphenburg area at Menzinger ...

since 1813.

Works

* ''Beschreibung der Gräser'' (1.1769 - 3.1810) * ''Lithographia Halensis'' (1758) * ''Schreberi Novae Species Insectorvm'' (1759) * ''Die Säugetiere in Abbildungen nach der Natur mit Beschreibungen'' (1.1774 - 64.1804) * ''Theses medicae'' (1761)

Gallery

Plates from ''Die Säugetiere in Abbildungen nach der Natur mit Beschreibungen'' 1774-1804. Image:Mustela sibirica.jpg, ''

Mustela sibirica The Siberian weasel or kolonok (''Mustela sibirica''), is a medium-sized weasel native to Asia, where it is widely distributed and inhabits various forest habitats and open areas. It is therefore listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. Des ...

'' Image:Eulemur mongoz Schreber.jpg, '' Eulemur mongoz'' Image:Viverra zibetha Schreber.jpg, '' Viverra zibetha'' Image:Herpestes ichneumon Schreber.jpg, ''

Herpestes ichneumon The Egyptian mongoose (''Herpestes ichneumon''), also known as ichneumon (), is a mongoose species native to the coastal regions along the Mediterranean Sea between North Africa and Turkey, tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and sh ...

'' Image:Galictis vittata Schreber.jpg, ''

Galictis vittata The greater grison (''Galictis vittata'') is a species of mustelid native to Southern Mexico, Central America, and South America. Description The greater grison is a slender animal with short legs, a long neck, and a short, bushy tail. They are ...

'' Image:Martes zibellina Schreber.jpg, ''

Martes zibellina The sable (''Martes zibellina'') is a species of marten, a small omnivorous mammal primarily inhabiting the forest environments of Russia, from the Ural Mountains throughout Siberia, and northern Mongolia. Its habitat also borders eastern ...

'' Image:Didelphis marsupialis Schreber.jpg, ''

Didelphis marsupialis The common opossum (''Didelphis marsupialis''), also called the southern or black-eared opossum or gambá, and sometimes called a possum, is a marsupial species living from the northeast of Mexico to Bolivia (reaching the coast of the South Paci ...

'' Image:Thylogale brunii Schreber.jpg, ''

Thylogale brunii The dusky pademelon or dusky wallaby (''Thylogale brunii'') is a species of marsupial in the family Macropodidae. It is found in the Aru and Kai islands and the Trans-Fly savanna and grasslands ecoregion of New Guinea. Its natural habitats ...

'' Image:Setifer setosus Schreber.jpg, ''

Setifer setosus The greater hedgehog tenrec (''Setifer setosus''), also known as the large Madagascar hedgehog or sokina, is a species of mammal in the family Tenrecidae. It is endemic to Madagascar. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical forests, ...

'' Image:Hemiechinus auritus Schreber.jpg, ''

Hemiechinus auritus The long-eared hedgehog (''Hemiechinus auritus'') is a species of hedgehog native to Central Asian countries and some countries of the Middle East. The long-eared hedgehog lives in burrows that it either makes or finds and is distinguished by i ...

'' Image:Vormela peregusna Schreber.jpg, ''

Vormela peregusna The marbled polecat (''Vormela peregusna'') is a small mammal belonging to the monotypic genus ''Vormela'' within the mustelid subfamily Ictonychinae. ''Vormela'' is from the German word , which means "little worm". The specific name ''pereg ...

'' Image:Caluromys philander Schreber.jpg, '' Caluromys philander''

References

External links

Online version of ''Schreberi Novae Species Insectorvm'' at GDZ Gaedike, R.; Groll, E. K. & Taeger, A. 2012: Bibliography of the entomological literature from the beginning until 1863 : online database - version 1.0 - Senckenberg Deutsches Entomologisches Institut.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schreber, Johann Christian Daniel von 1739 births 1810 deaths 18th-century German botanists 19th-century German botanists 18th-century German zoologists 19th-century German zoologists People from Weißensee, Thuringia Imperial counts palatine Edlers of Germany German entomologists German taxonomists University of Erlangen-Nuremberg alumni Presidents of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina Fellows of the Royal Society Honorary members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences