Max Carl Wilhelm Weber van Bosse or Max Wilhelm Carl Weber (5 December 1852 – 7 February 1937) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

- Dutch

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 biogeographer. Weber studied at the

University of Bonn The University of Bonn, officially the Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (), is a public research university in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the () on 18 October 1818 by Frederick Willi ...

, then at the

Humboldt University The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public university, public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III of Prussia, Frederick W ...

in Berlin with the zoologist Eduard Carl von Martens (1831–1904). He obtained his doctorate in 1877. Weber taught at the

University of Utrecht Utrecht University (UU; , formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2023, it had an enrollment of 39,769 students, a ...

then participated in an expedition to the

Barents Sea The Barents Sea ( , also ; , ; ) is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located off the northern coasts of Norway and Russia and divided between Norwegian and Russian territorial waters.World Wildlife Fund, 2008. It was known earlier among Russi ...

. He became Professor of Zoology, Anatomy and Physiology at the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, ) is a public university, public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Established in 1632 by municipal authorities, it is the fourth-oldest academic institution in the Netherlan ...

in 1883. In the same year he received naturalised Dutch citizenship. His discoveries as leader of the

Siboga Expedition The Siboga expedition was a Dutch zoological and hydrographic expedition to Indonesia from March 1899 to February 1900. The leader of the expedition was Max Carl Wilhelm Weber. Other members of the crew were his wife Anna Weber-Van Bosse, Anna ...

led him to conclude that Wallace's Line was placed too far to the west. His studies, along with others, led to a series of alternative lines to be proposed to delimit two major biogeographic realms, the

Australasian realm The Australasian realm is one of eight biogeographic realms that is coincident with, but not (by some definitions) the same as, the geographical region of Australasia. The realm includes Australia, the island of New Guinea (comprising Papua Ne ...

and the

Indomalayan realm The Indomalayan realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms. It extends across most of South and Southeast Asia and into the southern parts of East Asia. Also called the Oriental realm by biogeographers, Indomalaya spreads all over the Ind ...

. These lines were based on the fauna and flora in general, including the

mammalian A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...

fauna Fauna (: faunae or faunas) is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding terms for plants and fungi are ''flora'' and '' funga'', respectively. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively ...

. Later, Pelseneer published an influential paper on this topic, in which he proposed to call his preferred limit Weber's Line, to honour Weber's contributions in that field. As is the case with plant species, faunal surveys revealed that for mollusks and most vertebrate groups Wallace’s line was not the most significant biogeographic boundary. The

Tanimbar The Tanimbar Islands (; ), also called ''Timur Laut'' (literally, "North East"; ), are a group of about 65 islands in the Maluku province of Indonesia. The largest and most central of the islands is Yamdena; others include Selaru to the sout ...

Island group, and not the boundary between Bali and Lombok, appears to be the major interface between the Oriental and Australasian regions for mammals and other terrestrial vertebrate groups. With G.A.F. Molengraaff, Weber gave names to the

Sahul Shelf Geology, Geologically, the Sahul Shelf () is a part of the continental shelf of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, lying off the northwest coast of mainland Australia. Etymology The name "Sahull" or "Sahoel" appeared on 17th c ...

and the

Sunda Shelf Geology, Geologically, the Sunda Shelf () is a south-eastern extension of the continental shelf of Mainland Southeast Asia. Major landmasses on the shelf include the Indonesia, Indonesian islands of Bali, Borneo, Java, Madura Island, Madura, an ...

in 1919. Weber became member of the

Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (, KNAW) is an organization dedicated to the advancement of science and literature in the Netherlands. The academy is housed in the Trippenhuis in Amsterdam. In addition to various advisory a ...

in 1887. Weber is commemorated in the scientific names of three species of reptiles: ''

Anomochilus weberi ''Anomochilus weberi'', commonly known as Weber's dwarf pipesnake or the Sumatran giant blind snake, is a species of snake in the dwarf pipesnake family Anomochilidae. It is endemic to the islands of Borneo and Sumatra, where it inhabits monta ...

'', '' Hydrosaurus weberi'', and '' Pachydactylus weberi''. Two species of mammal are also named after him: '' Prosciurillus weberi'' and '' Myotis weberi''.

Publications

* Weber, M. . C.(ed.), 1890-1907. ''Zoologische Ergebnisse einer Reise in Niederländisch Ost-Indien'', 1 (1890-1891): -v i-xi, maps I-III, 1-460, pls. I-XXV; 2 (1892): -v 1-571, pls. I-XXX; 3 (1894): -v 1-476, pls. I-XXII; 4 (1897-1907): -v 1-453, pls. I-XVI (E. J. Brill, Leiden) . * Weber, M. . C. 1902. ''Introduction et description de l'expedition", I. Siboga-expeditie . * Weber, M. . C. 1904b. ''Enkele resultaten der Siboga-expeditie''. Versl. gewone Vergad. wis- en natuurk. Afd. K. Akad. Wet. Amsterdam, 12 (2): 910-914. * Weber, M. . C.& L. F. de Beaufort, 1911-1962. ''The fishes of the Indo-Australian Archipelago'', I (1911). Index of the ichthyological papers of P. Bleeker: i-xi, 1-410, 1 portrait; II. (1913). Malacopterygii, Myctophoidea, Ostariophysi: I Siluroidea: i-xx, 1-404, 1 portrait; III. (1916) Ostariophysi: II Cyprinoidea, Apodes, Synbranchii]: i-xv, 1-455; IV. (1922) Heteromi, Solenichthyes, Synentognathi, Percesoces, Labyrinthici, Microcyprini]: i-xiii, 1-410

Gallery

File:Portrait of Max Wilhelm Carl Weber.jpg, Portrait of Max Wilhelm Carl File:Max and Anna Weber around 1890.jpg, Max Wilhelm Carl Weber and Anna Weber-van Bosse around 1890 File:Siboga expedition group portrait in laboratory.jpg, Siboga expedition group portrait in laboratory File:Leden der expeditie.jpg, Siboga expedition group portrait

Taxon described by him

* See :Taxa named by Max Carl Wilhelm Weber

Taxon named in his honor

*The pipefish '' Cosmocampus maxweberi'' ( Whitley, 1933) was named after him.

Abyssal plain named in his honor

Weber Deep with a depth of 7,351 meters, (24,117 feet, 4.56 miles) in the

Banda Sea The Banda Sea (, , ) is one of four seas that surround the Maluku Islands of Indonesia, connected to the Pacific Ocean, but surrounded by hundreds of islands, including Timor, as well as the Halmahera Sea, Halmahera and Ceram Seas. It is about ...

. Dutch Oceanographic Research in Indonesia, BY HENDRIK M. VAN AKEN. Oceanography Vol. 18, No. 4, Dec. 2005. 30.
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References

Citations

* Querner, H., 1976. Weber, Max Wilhelm Carl. In : C. C. Gillispie (ed.), ''Dictionary of scientific biography'', 14 : 203 (Charles Scribner's Sons, New York). * Pieters, Florence F. J. M. et Jaap de Visser, 1993. The scientific career of the zoologist Max Wilhelm Carl Weber (1852-1937). Bijdragen tot de Dierkunde, 62 (4): 193-214.

External links

Biography
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Weber, Max Carl Wilhelm 1852 births 1937 deaths Biogeographers 20th-century Dutch zoologists W 19th-century German zoologists Foreign members of the Royal Society Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Scientists from Bonn Academic staff of the University of Amsterdam University of Bonn alumni