Fritz Nieden (1883–1942) was a German

zoologist Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoology is one ...

who specialized in African

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 worked as a zoologist at the ''

Museum für Naturkunde The Natural History Museum () is a natural history museum located in Berlin, Germany. It exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history and in such domain it is one of three major museums in Germany alongside Naturm ...

'' 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 ...

. His name is associated with Nieden's dwarf skink, '' Panaspis megalurus''. In 1911 he was the first to describe '' Callulina kreffti'', a

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), ...

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely semiaquatic group of short-bodied, tailless amphibian vertebrates composing the order (biology), order Anura (coming from the Ancient Greek , literally 'without tail'). Frog species with rough ski ...

, which until 2004 was the only known species of the

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

Callulina ''Callulina'' (commonly known as the warty frogs) is a small genus of frogs in the family Brevicipitidae with nine members in Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Grea ...

''. The Sagala caecilian, '' Boulengerula niedeni'', is named after him.

Selected writings

*
Die Amphibienfauna von Kamerun
' (1908), Mitteilungen aus dem Zoologischen Museum in Berlin 3: 491–518 ("''

Amphibian Amphibians are ectothermic, anamniote, anamniotic, tetrapod, four-limbed vertebrate animals that constitute the class (biology), class Amphibia. In its broadest sense, it is a paraphyletic group encompassing all Tetrapod, tetrapods, but excl ...

fauna of

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

''") *''Die Reptilien (außer den Schlangen) und Amphibien'', 1910 -

Reptiles Reptiles, as commonly defined, are a group of tetrapods with an ectothermic metabolism and Amniotic egg, amniotic development. Living traditional reptiles comprise four Order (biology), orders: Testudines, Crocodilia, Squamata, and Rhynchocepha ...

(other than snakes) and amphibians. *''Gymnophoina (Amphibia apoda)'', 1913 -

Gymnophiona Caecilians (; ) are a group of limbless, vermiform (worm-shaped) or serpentine (snake-shaped) amphibians with small or sometimes nonexistent eyes. They mostly live hidden in soil or in streambeds, and this cryptic lifestyle renders caecilians ...

(

caecilians Caecilians (; ) are a group of limbless, vermiform (worm-shaped) or serpentine (snake-shaped) amphibians with small or sometimes nonexistent eyes. They mostly live hidden in soil or in streambeds, and this cryptic lifestyle renders caecilians ...

). *''Amphibia : Anura I subordo Aglossa und Phanerglossa, sectio 1 Arcifera'', 1923 - Anura I, suborders Aglossa and Phaneroglossa. *''Amphibia. Anura II. Engystomatidae ... Mit 55 Abbildungen'', 1926 - Anura II, Engystomatidae.WorldCat Identities
(list of published works).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nieden, Fritz German herpetologists 1942 deaths 1883 births 20th-century German zoologists