August Friedrich Schweigger (8 September 1783 – 28 June 1821) was a German
naturalist
Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...
born in
Erlangen
Erlangen (; , ) is a Middle Franconian city in Bavaria, Germany. It is the seat of the administrative district Erlangen-Höchstadt (former administrative district Erlangen), and with 119,810 inhabitants (as of 30 September 2024), it is the smalle ...
. He was the younger brother of scientist
Johann Salomo Christoph Schweigger
Johann Salomo Christoph Schweigger (8 April 1779 – 6 September 1857) was a German chemist, physicist, and professor of mathematics born in Erlangen.
J.S.C.Schweigger was the son of Friedrich Christian Lorenz Schweigger, professor of theologie ...
(1779-1857).
He studied medicine,
zoology
Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...
and
botany
Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...
at Erlangen, and following graduation spent time in
Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
(from 1804) and
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
(from 1806). In 1809 he was appointed professor of botany and medicine at the
University of Königsberg
The University of Königsberg () was the university of Königsberg in Duchy of Prussia, which was a fief of Poland. It was founded in 1544 as the world's second Protestant Reformation, Protestant academy (after the University of Marburg) by Duke A ...
. In 1815, he was elected a corresponding member of the
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences () is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special responsibility for promoting nat ...
. On a research trip to
Sicily
Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...
, he was murdered near
Agrigento
Agrigento (; or ) is a city on the southern coast of Sicily, Italy and capital of the province of Agrigento.
Founded around 582 BC by Greek colonists from Gela, Agrigento, then known as Akragas, was one of the leading cities during the golden ...
on 28 June 1821.
The plant genus '' Schweiggeria'' from the family
Violaceae
Violaceae is a family of flowering plants established in 1802, consisting of about 1000 species in about 25 genera. It takes its name from the genus '' Viola'', the violets and pansies.
Older classifications such as the Cronquist system plac ...
is named in his honor.
In the scientific field of
herpetology
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 ...
, he is best known for his 1812 monograph of
turtle
Turtles are reptiles of the order (biology), order Testudines, characterized by a special turtle shell, shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Crypt ...
s, in which he described several new
species
A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
which are still valid.
Turtle taxa described by Schweigger
Schweigger is the
taxonomic authority
In biology, taxonomy () is the scientific study of naming, defining ( circumscribing) and classifying groups of biological organisms based on shared characteristics. Organisms are grouped into taxa (singular: taxon), and these groups are given ...
of ''
Chelydra
''Chelydra'' is one of the two extant taxon, extant genus, genera of the snapping turtle family, Chelydridae, the other being ''Macrochelys'', the much larger alligator snapping turtle. The snapping turtles are native to the Americas, with ''Che ...
'', a genus of
snapping turtle
The Chelydridae is a family of turtles that has seven extinct and two extant genera. The extant genera are the snapping turtles, ''Chelydra'' and ''Macrochelys''. Both are endemic to the Western Hemisphere. The extinct genera are '' Acherontemys' ...
s.
In 1812 he described as new species the following 12 species of turtles and tortoises.
*
Adanson's mud turtle
Adanson's mud turtle (''Pelusios adansonii'') is a species of turtle in the family Pelomedusidae. The species is endemic to north-central Africa.
Taxonomy and etymology
August Friedrich Schweigger first described the turtle in 1812, based on rem ...
, ''Pelusios adansonii''
*
Aldabra giant tortoise
The Aldabra giant tortoise (''Aldabrachelys gigantea'') is a species of tortoise in the family Testudinidae and genus '' Aldabrachelys''. The species is endemic to the Seychelles, with the nominate subspecies, ''A. g. gigantea'' native to Alda ...
Gibba turtle
''Mesoclemmys gibba'', known as the toadhead turtle or gibba turtle, is a small side necked turtle found in a wide area of South America, in Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Trinidad, Guyana, Surinam, Paraguay, and parts of Brazil.
References ...
, ''Mesoclemmys gibba''
*
Indian black turtle
The Indian black turtle (''Melanochelys trijuga'') or Indian pond terrapin is a species of medium-sized freshwater turtle found in South Asia.
Description
Their shell is a typically made up of shades of dark brown, green, or grey, not just blac ...
Mediterranean turtle
The Iberian pond turtle (''Mauremys leprosa''), also known as the Mediterranean pond turtle or Mediterranean turtle, is a species of turtle in the family Geoemydidae. The species is endemic to southwestern Europe and northwestern Africa.
Subspec ...
, ''Mauremys leprosa''
*
West African mud turtle
The West African mud turtle (''Pelusios castaneus''), also known as the West African side-necked turtle or swamp terrapin, is a species of turtle in the family Pelomedusidae.
''Pelusios castaneus'' is a freshwater species and is endemic to West a ...
, ''Pelusios castaneus''
Selected publications
* ''Specimen flora erlangensis'', 1805.
* ''Kranken- und Armenanstalten in Paris'' (Medical and charitable institutions in Paris), Bayreuth: Lübeck, 1809.
* ''Prodromus Monographia Cheloniorum auctore Schweigger''. Königsberg. Arch. Naturwiss. Mathem. 1: 271-368, 406-458, 1812.
* ''Einige Worte über Classification der Thiere'', (Treatise on the classification of animals), 1812.
* ''Prodromi monographiae cheloniorum'', 1814.
* ''Beobachtungen auf naturhistorischen Reisen'' (Observations on
natural history
Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...
trips). Berlin, 1819.
* ''Handbuch der Naturgeschichte der skelettlosen ungegliederten Tiere'' (Textbook of natural history on unsegmented
invertebrates
Invertebrates are animals that neither develop nor retain a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''spine'' or ''backbone''), which evolved from the notochord. It is a paraphyletic grouping including all animals excluding the chordate subphylum ...
). Leipzig, 1820.
* ''De plantarum classificatione naturalis'', 1821.
* "The Life and Herpetological Contributions of August Friedrich Schweigger" (Published in English); Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, 2008.Google Search published works
Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie
(ADB; ) is one of the most important and comprehensive biographical reference works in the German language.
It was published by the Historical Commission of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences between 1875 and 1912 in 56 volumes, printed in Lei ...
* ''Parts of this article are based on a translation of the equivalent article from the
German Wikipedia
The German Wikipedia () is the German-language edition of Wikipedia, a free and publicly editable online encyclopedia.
Founded on 16 March 2001, it is the second-oldest Wikipedia edition (after the English Wikipedia). It has articles, ma ...