Georg Johann Pfeffer (1854–1931) 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 ...

, primarily a

malacologist Malacology, from Ancient Greek μαλακός (''malakós''), meaning "soft", and λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is the branch of invertebrate zoology that deals with the study of the Mollusca (molluscs or mollusks), the second-largest ...

, a

scientist A scientist is a person who Scientific method, researches to advance knowledge in an Branches of science, area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engag ...

who studies

mollusk Mollusca is a phylum of protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum after Arthropoda. The ...

Pfeffer was born 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 ...

. In 1887 he became

curator A curator (from , meaning 'to take care') is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the particular ins ...

of the , which was established in 1843 and destroyed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Pfeffer's published writings were mainly about

cephalopod A cephalopod is any member of the molluscan Taxonomic rank, class Cephalopoda (Greek language, Greek plural , ; "head-feet") such as a squid, octopus, cuttlefish, or nautilus. These exclusively marine animals are characterized by bilateral symm ...

s. The

World Register of Marine Species The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) is a taxonomic database that aims to provide an authoritative and comprehensive catalogue and list of names of marine organisms. Content The content of the registry is edited and maintained by scien ...

database lists 133 marine

taxa In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; : taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular name and ...

named by Pfeffer When Pfeffer's name is listed as an authority for a

taxon In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; : taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular name and ...

such as the

land snail A land snail is any of the numerous species of snail that live on land, as opposed to the sea snails and freshwater snails. ''Land snail'' is the common name for terrestrial molluscs, terrestrial gastropod mollusks that have gastropod shell, shel ...

genus ''

Lamellaxis ''Allopeas'', common name the "awl snails", is a genus of small, tropical, air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Achatinidae. Species The genus ''Allopeas'' includes the following species: * '' Allo ...

'' Strebel & Pfeffer, 1882, his name is ''not'' simply an orthographic error for the more commonly encountered molluscan authority Pfeiffer, i.e.

Ludwig Karl Georg Pfeiffer Ludwig Karl Georg Pfeiffer, also known as Louis Pfeiffer (4 July 1805 – 2 October 1877), was a German physician, botany, botanist and conchology, conchologist. Early life, education and medical career Pfeiffer was born in Cassel, the eldest so ...

, who lived 50 years earlier, from 1805 to 1877. Georg Johann Pfeffer also studied

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 ...

s and

reptile 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 ...

s, naming several new species. Two species of reptiles are named in his honor, ''

Calamaria pfefferi Pfeffer's reed snake (''Calamaria pfefferi'') is a species of dwarf snake in the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to Japan. Etymology The specific name, ''pfefferi'', is in honor of German zoologist Georg Johann Pfeffer.Beolens, Bo; Wa ...

'' and '' Trioceros pfefferi''.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Pfeffer", p. 205).

Bibliography

* von Martens E, Pfeffer GJ (1886)
"''Die Mollusken von Süd-Georgien nach der Ausbeute der Deutschen Station 1882–83'' "
''Berichte über das Naturhistorische Museum zu Hamburg'' 1885: 65–135 + plates I-IV. *Pfeffer GJ (1912). "''Die Cephalopoden der Plankton-Expedition. Zugleich eine Monographische Übersicht der Oegopsiden Cephalopoden''". In: ''Ergebnisse der Plankton-Expedition der Humboldt-Stiftung, Band 12'' olume 12 Kiel and Leipzig: Lipsius & Tischer. *Pfeffer GJ (1930). "''Zur Kentniss tertiärer Landschnecken'' ". ''Geologische und Paleontologische Abhandlungen'' (new series) 17 (3): 1–230 + plates 1–3.

References

External links

* 1854 births 1931 deaths 19th-century German zoologists German malacologists German curators Teuthologists 20th-century German zoologists Scientists from Hamburg {{Germany-zoologist-stub

Bibliography

See also

References

External links