Paul Ferdinand Deppe known mostly as Ferdinand Deppe (20 October 1795 – 3 February 1861) 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 ...

explorer Exploration is the process of exploring, an activity which has some Expectation (epistemic), expectation of Discovery (observation), discovery. Organised exploration is largely a human activity, but exploratory activity is common to most organis ...

and painter. He was the younger brother of Wilhelm Deppe, an accountant with the Berlin Zoological Museum. A number of species have been described from his collected and named after him.

Life and work

Deppe was born in Berlin. He worked at the Royal Gardens but was connected to the Zoological Museum in Berlin where his brother Wilhelm was accountant. He was selected to accompany Count von Sack to

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

in 1824. He studied English, Spanish and trained in the preparation of natural history specimens before leaving. He left Berlin in August 1824 and after changes of ships at London and Jamaica, reached Alvarado, Veracruz in December. He collected specimens of invertebrates as well as vertebrates. These specimens were purchased by

Hinrich Lichtenstein Martin H nrich Carl Lichtenstein (10 January 1780 – 2 September 1857) was a German physician, List of explorers, explorer, botanist and zoologist. He explored parts of southern Africa and collected natural history specimens extensively and ...

and he then decided to make another trip to Mexico with botanist Wilhelm Schiede (1798-1836) with the plan to make a living by selling natural history specimens. In 1827 he travelled around Oaxaca and collected with William Bullock jr, the son of William Bullock. In 1828 he set up a base in Xalapa and began to collect in the region. Some of the specimens were bought by museums in Berlin and Vienna. From 1830 Schiede practiced medicine in Mexico City while Deppe began to try various other businesses to make living. He travelled widely, collecting even in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

and

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

. He returned in 1838 to Berlin. Some of his American flies were described by

Christian Rudolph Wilhelm Wiedemann Christian Rudolph Wilhelm Wiedemann (7 December 1770 – 31 December 1840) was a German physician, historian, naturalist and entomologist. He is best known for his studies of world Diptera, but he also studied Hymenoptera and Coleoptera, al ...

in ''Aussereuropäische Zweiflügelige Insekten'' published in Hamm (1828–1830). In the 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 commemorated in the specific epithets of '' Abronia deppii'' (Deppe's arboreal alligator lizard), '' Aspidoscelis deppii'' (blackbelly racerunner), ''

Pituophis deppei ''Pituophis deppei'', commonly known as the Mexican bullsnake and the Mexican pine snake, is a species of nonvenomous colubrid snake endemic to Mexico. There are two recognized subspecies. Etymology The specific name, ''deppei'', is in honor ...

'' (Mexican pine snake), and '' Tantilla deppei'' (Deppe's centipede snake). His name is also associated with '' Herichthys deppii'' (Nautla cichlid), Deppe's squirrel (''Sciurus deppei'') and '' Oxalis deppei'', the so-called "lucky four-leaf clover". In 1830 a printed pricelist was distributed listing specimens for sale with the title: ''Preis-Verzeichniss der Saugethiere, Vogel, Amphibien, Fische und Krebse, welche von den Herren Deppe und Schiede in Mexico gesammelt worden, und bei dem unterzeichneten Bevollmächtigten in Berlin gegen baare Zahlung in Preuss. Courant zu erhalten sind''. The items had been collected by Ferdinand Deppe in Mexico and the binomial names would have been supplied by

who was the director of the Zoological Museum. This list was signed by Wilhelm Deppe and is now considered as the original publication for 11 bird species. Although Ferdinand Deppe collected the specimens, under the rules of the

International Code of Zoological Nomenclature The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is a widely accepted Convention (norm), convention in zoology that rules the formal scientific name, scientific naming of organisms treated as animals. It is also informally known as the I ...

, Wilhelm Deppe is considered as the authority.

Associated publications

* "Travels in California in 1837"; (1953) Part of the series: Early California travels series, 15. Translated from a publication of 1847, ''Zeitschrift für Erdkunde'', vol. 7, p. 383–90.OCLC WorldCat
Travels in California in 1837

References

1795 births 1861 deaths Scientists from Berlin German naturalists German entomologists 19th-century German explorers German ornithologists Artists from Berlin Naturalists from the Kingdom of Prussia 19th-century German naturalists Artists from the Kingdom of Prussia {{Germany-painter-stub