“Der fluglose Alk”: Johann Friedrich Naumann’s 1844 account of Pinguinus impennis (great auk)
This study examines the contribution of Johann Friedrich Naumann (1780–1857) to knowledge of the biology of Pinguinus impennis (great auk; “der fluglose Alk/ the flightless auk”), written for his natural history of German birds, Naturgeschichte der Vögel Deutschlands (1820–1844) and published in the...
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Language: | English |
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Edinburgh University Press
2023
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.3366/anh.2023.0863 https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/full-xml/10.3366/anh.2023.0863 |
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credinunivpr:10.3366/anh.2023.0863 2024-09-15T17:36:04+00:00 “Der fluglose Alk”: Johann Friedrich Naumann’s 1844 account of Pinguinus impennis (great auk) Schulze-Hagen, Karl Birkhead, Tim R. 2023 http://dx.doi.org/10.3366/anh.2023.0863 https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/full-xml/10.3366/anh.2023.0863 en eng Edinburgh University Press https://www.euppublishing.com/customer-services/librarians/text-and-data-mining-tdm Archives of Natural History volume 50, issue 2, page 304-324 ISSN 0260-9541 1755-6260 journal-article 2023 credinunivpr https://doi.org/10.3366/anh.2023.0863 2024-08-08T04:13:56Z This study examines the contribution of Johann Friedrich Naumann (1780–1857) to knowledge of the biology of Pinguinus impennis (great auk; “der fluglose Alk/ the flightless auk”), written for his natural history of German birds, Naturgeschichte der Vögel Deutschlands (1820–1844) and published in the twelfth and final volume in 1844, the year in which the great auk is generally accepted to have become extinct. Naumann, a farmer in a rural area of central Germany, never saw a live great auk, yet by careful examination of the literature, correspondence and conversations with other ornithologists, together with the examination of at least nine skins and three eggs, he produced an extraordinarily accurate and perceptive account of the bird. In the winter of 1830–1831, Naumann obtained his own great auk specimen – a bird in summer plumage – through Johann Heinrich Frank, one of several natural history dealers responsible for importing great auk specimens from Iceland to Denmark and Germany in the 1830s. Naumann noted several differences between the great auk and the smaller but morphologically similar Alca torda (razorbill), and suggested that the two species represented separate genera. Despite the plethora of publications relating to the great auk following its extinction, it is remarkable that Naumann’s exceptional account should have been almost entirely overlooked. Article in Journal/Newspaper Alca torda Great auk Iceland Pinguinus impennis Razorbill Edinburgh University Press Archives of Natural History 50 2 304 324 |
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Open Polar |
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Edinburgh University Press |
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credinunivpr |
language |
English |
description |
This study examines the contribution of Johann Friedrich Naumann (1780–1857) to knowledge of the biology of Pinguinus impennis (great auk; “der fluglose Alk/ the flightless auk”), written for his natural history of German birds, Naturgeschichte der Vögel Deutschlands (1820–1844) and published in the twelfth and final volume in 1844, the year in which the great auk is generally accepted to have become extinct. Naumann, a farmer in a rural area of central Germany, never saw a live great auk, yet by careful examination of the literature, correspondence and conversations with other ornithologists, together with the examination of at least nine skins and three eggs, he produced an extraordinarily accurate and perceptive account of the bird. In the winter of 1830–1831, Naumann obtained his own great auk specimen – a bird in summer plumage – through Johann Heinrich Frank, one of several natural history dealers responsible for importing great auk specimens from Iceland to Denmark and Germany in the 1830s. Naumann noted several differences between the great auk and the smaller but morphologically similar Alca torda (razorbill), and suggested that the two species represented separate genera. Despite the plethora of publications relating to the great auk following its extinction, it is remarkable that Naumann’s exceptional account should have been almost entirely overlooked. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Schulze-Hagen, Karl Birkhead, Tim R. |
spellingShingle |
Schulze-Hagen, Karl Birkhead, Tim R. “Der fluglose Alk”: Johann Friedrich Naumann’s 1844 account of Pinguinus impennis (great auk) |
author_facet |
Schulze-Hagen, Karl Birkhead, Tim R. |
author_sort |
Schulze-Hagen, Karl |
title |
“Der fluglose Alk”: Johann Friedrich Naumann’s 1844 account of Pinguinus impennis (great auk) |
title_short |
“Der fluglose Alk”: Johann Friedrich Naumann’s 1844 account of Pinguinus impennis (great auk) |
title_full |
“Der fluglose Alk”: Johann Friedrich Naumann’s 1844 account of Pinguinus impennis (great auk) |
title_fullStr |
“Der fluglose Alk”: Johann Friedrich Naumann’s 1844 account of Pinguinus impennis (great auk) |
title_full_unstemmed |
“Der fluglose Alk”: Johann Friedrich Naumann’s 1844 account of Pinguinus impennis (great auk) |
title_sort |
“der fluglose alk”: johann friedrich naumann’s 1844 account of pinguinus impennis (great auk) |
publisher |
Edinburgh University Press |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.3366/anh.2023.0863 https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/full-xml/10.3366/anh.2023.0863 |
genre |
Alca torda Great auk Iceland Pinguinus impennis Razorbill |
genre_facet |
Alca torda Great auk Iceland Pinguinus impennis Razorbill |
op_source |
Archives of Natural History volume 50, issue 2, page 304-324 ISSN 0260-9541 1755-6260 |
op_rights |
https://www.euppublishing.com/customer-services/librarians/text-and-data-mining-tdm |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3366/anh.2023.0863 |
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Archives of Natural History |
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50 |
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2 |
container_start_page |
304 |
op_container_end_page |
324 |
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1810486973043834880 |