Axel Johann Einar Lönnberg (24 December 1865 – 21 November 1942) was a Swedish zoologist and conservationist. Lönnberg was born in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

. He was head of the

Vertebrate Vertebrates () are animals with a vertebral column (backbone or spine), and a cranium, or skull. The vertebral column surrounds and protects the spinal cord, while the cranium protects the brain. The vertebrates make up the subphylum Vertebra ...

Department of the '' Naturhistoriska Riksmuseet'' (Swedish Natural History Museum) from 1904 to 1933. In 1891 he obtained his PhD from the University of Uppsala, spending the next twelve years as an inspector in the fisheries service. During this time-frame he made scientific trips to

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

(1892 – 1893) and the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, described as the List of lakes by area, world's largest lake and usually referred to as a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia: east of the Caucasus, ...

(1899). In 1904 he was appointed head of the department of

vertebrates Vertebrates () are animals with a vertebral column (backbone or spine), and a cranium, or skull. The vertebral column surrounds and protects the spinal cord, while the cranium protects the brain. The vertebrates make up the subphylum Vertebra ...

at the ''Naturhistoriska Riksmuseet'' in Stockholm. In 1910 – 1911 he participated in an expedition to

East Africa East Africa, also known as Eastern Africa or the East of Africa, is a region at the eastern edge of the Africa, African continent, distinguished by its unique geographical, historical, and cultural landscape. Defined in varying scopes, the regi ...

. From 1925 to 1942 he served as

prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect' ...

of the ''Kristineberg Marina Forskningsstation'' (Kristineberg Marine Zoological Station). In regard to his zoological research, his primary focus dealt with mammals, birds and fish, but he also made significant contributions in his studies of reptiles and

amphibians 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 ...

. He was the binomial authority of numerous taxa, and has several species named after him, such as '' Onykia loennbergii'' (Japanese hooked squid) and a subspecies of the Brown Skua. The Belgian-British zoologist

George Albert Boulenger George Albert Boulenger (19 October 1858 – 23 November 1937) was a Belgian-British zoologist who described and gave scientific names to over 2,000 new animal species, chiefly fish, reptiles, and amphibians. Boulenger was also an active botani ...

named a small, secretive, venomous, endemic New Guinea elapid snake ''Apisthocalamus loennbergii'' in his honour, although this species is now synonymised with '' Toxicocalamus loriae'' (Loria's forest snake). In his obituary in the ornithological journal, '' Ibis'', it was written: "that since the days of

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

hardly anyone has known so much about so many branches of zoology as Lönnberg". In 1904 he founded the influential journal of biology, ''Fauna och Flora''. As a conservationist he worked hard for laws protecting waterfowl and reindeer. In 1922 he became an honorary member of the British Ornithologists' Union.

Some species that Lönnberg described

Reptiles *'' Tupinambis duseni'' now '' Salvator duseni'' 1910 (yellow tegu) *'' Isopachys gyldenstolpei'' 1916 (Gyldenstolpe's snake skink) *'' Mabuya irregularis'' now ''

Trachylepis irregularis The alpine meadow mabuya (''Trachylepis irregularis'') is a species of skink found in Uganda and Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million a ...

'' 1922 (alpine meadow skink) Mammals (subspecies) *'' Equus quagga borensis'' 1921 ( Maneless zebra) *'' Orycteropus afer erikssoni'' 1906 (North Congo aardvark) Fish *'' Artedidraco mirus'' 1905 (South Georgian plunderfish) Co-authored with Lars Gabriel Andersson *'' Aipysurus tenuis'' 1913 (Arafura seasnake) *'' Atractaspis engdahli'' 1913 (Engdahl's burrowing asp) *'' Lygosoma graciloides'' now '' Eroticoscincus graciloides'' 1913 (elf skink) *'' Oedurella taeniata'' now '' Strophurus taeniatus'' 1913 (phasmid striped gecko) *'' Lygosoma brachyosoma'' now '' Concinnia brachyosoma'' 1915 (northern bar-sided skink) *'' Lygosoma tympanum'' now '' Eulamprus tympanum'' 1915 (highland water skink) *'' Lygosoma mjobergi'' now '' Glaphyromorphus mjobergi'' 1915 (Atherton Tableland skink)

Written works by Lönnberg that have been published in English

* "Linnean type-specimens of birds, reptiles, batrachians, and fishes in the Zoological Museum of the Royal University of Upsala", 1896 * "Is the Florida box tortoise a distinct species", 1897 * "Reptiles and batrachians collected in

German New Guinea German New Guinea () consisted of the northeastern part of the island of New Guinea and several nearby island groups, and was part of the German colonial empire. The mainland part of the territory, called , became a German protectorate in 188 ...

by the late Dr Erik Nyman", 1900 * " Peter Artedi : a bicentenary memoir : written on behalf of the Swedish Royal Academy of Science", 1905 * "Contributions to the fauna of

South Georgia South Georgia is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic Ocean that is part of the British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. It lies around east of the Falkland Islands. ...

, 1906 * "Mammals", 1908 * "A new lizard and a new frog from Paraná", 1910 (co-author L. G. Andersson) * "Birds collected by the Swedish Zoological Expedition to British East Africa 1911", 1911 * "Reptiles, batrachians and fishes collected by the Swedish Zoological Expedition to British East Africa 1911", 1911 * "Mammals collected by the Swedish Zoological Expedition to British East Africa 1911", 1912 * "Results of Dr. E. Mjöbergs Swedish Scientific Expeditions to

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 ...

1910-13. III. Reptiles", 1913 (co-author L. G. Andersson) * "On a collection of reptiles from Kismayu", 1913 (co-author L. G. Andersson) * "Results of Dr. E. Mjöberg's Swedish Scientific Expeditions to Australia 1910-1913. VII. Reptiles collected in northern Queensland", 1915 (co-author L. G. Andersson) * "Zoological results of the Swedish Zoological Expeditions to Siam 1911-1912 and 1914. 2. Lizards", 1916 * "Mammals collected in Central Africa by Captain E. Arrhenius, 1917 * "On a new fossil porcupine from Henan with some remarks about the development of the Hystridae, 1924 * "Some speculations on the origin of the North American ornithic fauna", 1927.WorldCat Identities
(list of publications).

References

Some Biogeographers, Evolutionists and Ecologists
Chrono-Biographical Sketches {{DEFAULTSORT:Lonnberg, Einar 1865 births 1942 deaths Scientists from Stockholm Swedish ornithologists 20th-century Swedish zoologists Uppsala University alumni

Some species that Lönnberg described

Written works by Lönnberg that have been published in English

See also

References