Knut Dahl Knut Dahl (28 October 1871 – 11 June 1951) was a Norwegian

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 ...

and

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 ...

who made important

bird collections Bird collections are curated repositories of scientific Biological specimen, specimens consisting of birds and their parts. They are a research resource for ornithology, the science of birds, and for other scientific disciplines in which informa ...

in northern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Early years

Dahl grew up at Hakadal in

Akershus Akershus () is a county in Norway, with Oslo as its administrative centre, though Oslo is not located within Akershus. Akershus has been a region in Eastern Norway with Oslo as its main city since the Middle Ages, and is named after the Akers ...

, Norway, where his father was an estate manager. Surrounded by forests, lakes and rivers, Dahl became an excellent shot and a skilled angler. In 1889 he entered the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation#Europe, oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick Univ ...

where he studied zoology. In 1893, at the age of 21, he was given the opportunity to conduct a scientific expedition to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

and Australia to collect animal specimens for the University's Zoological Museum. In South Africa he occupied himself with some

big game hunting Big-game hunting is the hunting of large game animals for Trophy hunting, trophies, taxidermy, meat, and commercially valuable animal product, animal by-products (such as horn (anatomy), horns, antlers, tusks, bones, fur, body fat, or special o ...

as well as the collection of scientific specimens.D.J.D. (1951).

Travels in Australia

In March 1894 he left Port Natal (

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

), accompanied by his

taxidermist Taxidermy is the art of preserving an animal's body by mounting (over an armature) or stuffing, for the purpose of display or study. Animals are often, but not always, portrayed in a lifelike state. The word ''taxidermy'' describes the process ...

Ingel Olsen Holm, and journeyed to Australia where he moved from

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

and then to Darwin in Australia's

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

. From Darwin Dahl and Holm went to the Uniya Mission Station on the Daly River where they stayed for several months, making long trips by dinghy on the river and collecting specimens. They later travelled to the

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

and

Alligator Rivers Alligator Rivers is the name of an area in an Arnhem Land region of the Northern Territory of Australia, containing three rivers, the East, West, and South Alligator Rivers. It is regarded as one of the richest biological regions in Australia, ...

where they collected two new pigeons and a parrot. The new birds were the

chestnut-quilled rock-pigeon The chestnut-quilled rock pigeon (''Petrophassa rufipennis'') is a dark sooty brown pigeon with a distinctive bright chestnut patch on its wing visible in flight. It has distinctive pale lines across its face curving above and below its eye. A sp ...

, the

Arnhem Land Arnhem Land is a historical region of the Northern Territory of Australia. It is located in the north-eastern corner of the territory and is around from the territorial capital, Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin. In 1623, Dutch East India Compa ...

subspecies of the banded fruit-dove, and the

hooded parrot The hooded parrot (''Psephotellus dissimilis'') is a species of parrot native to the Northern Territory in Australia. It is found in savannah and open woodland and is one of two extant species in its genus that breed in termite mounds. It has decl ...

, all described by R. Collett in 1898 in the ''

Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London The ''Journal of Zoology'' is a scientific journal concerning zoology, the study of animals. It was founded in 1830 by the Zoological Society of London and is published by Wiley-Blackwell. It carries original research papers, which are targeted t ...

''. After a visit to Batavia and

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

Dahl and Holm returned to

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

where they collected in the vicinity of

Roebuck Bay Roebuck Bay is a bay on the coast of the Kimberley (Western Australia), Kimberley region of Western Australia. Its entrance is bounded in the north by the town of Broome, Western Australia, Broome, and in the south by Bush Point and Sandy P ...

. They finally departed Australia in March 1896, arriving back in Norway on 4 May.

Later life

In 1898, he was appointed as a research fellow at the

Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters The Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters (, DKNVS) is a Norway, Norwegian learned society based in Trondheim. It was founded in 1760 and is Norway's oldest scientific and scholarly institution. The society's Protector is King Harald V of ...

(''Det Kongelige Norske Videnskabers Selskap'') in

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...

. On Dahl's return to Norway he wrote books about his experiences in South Africa and Australia; his account of the latter was first published in Norwegian in 1898, then titled ''In Savage Australia'' when it was eventually translated and published in English in 1926. He became an eminent scientific authority on

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

, especially

salmonid Salmonidae (, ) is a family of ray-finned fish, the only extant member of the suborder Salmonoidei, consisting of 11 extant genera and over 200 species collectively known as "salmonids" or "salmonoids". The family includes salmon (both Atlantic a ...

s, and was stationed for many years at

and

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

References

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dahl, Knut 1871 births 1951 deaths People from Akershus University of Oslo alumni Norwegian ornithologists Norwegian ichthyologists 20th-century Norwegian zoologists 19th-century Norwegian zoologists