Baron Nöel Frédéric Armand André de Lafresnaye (24 July 1783 – 14 July 1861) was a French
ornithologist and collector.
Lafresnaye was born into an aristocratic family at Chateau de La Fresnaye in
Falaise, Normandy. He took an early interest in
natural history
Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...
, particularly
entomology
Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...
. It was only after acquiring a collection of European birds that he turned his attention to ornithology.
Lafresnaye described a number of new bird species, some with
Alcide d'Orbigny
Alcide Charles Victor Marie Dessalines d'Orbigny (6 September 1802 – 30 June 1857) was a French naturalist who made major contributions in many areas, including zoology (including malacology), palaeontology, geology, archaeology and anthropol ...
. He accumulated a collection of over 8,000 bird skins at his home. After his death the collection was purchased by the American collector
Henry Bryant and donated to the
Boston Natural History Society. It was transferred to the
Museum of Comparative Zoology in 1914.
Lafresnaye's piculet,
Lafresnaye's woodcreeper and
Lafresnaye's vanga are avian species that bear his name.
Selected works
* ''Contributions à l'ornithologie'', 1832 - Contributions to ornithology.
* ''Catalogue des oiseaux de la collection de feu Mr. le bon. de Lafresnaye de Falaise'', 1833 - Catalog of birds from the collection of Lafresnaye.
* ''Essai d'une nouvelle manière de grouper les genres et les espèces de l'ordre des passereaux (Passeres L.) d'après leurs rapports de moeurs et d'habitation'', 1838 - Essay on a new method of grouping the genera and species of the order
Passeriformes, etc.
* ''Monographie du genre Dendrocolaptes'', 1849 - Monograph on the genus
Dendrocolaptes.
* ''Sur quelques espèces d'oiseaux nouveaux ou peu connus du Chili et de la Colombie'', 1855 - On some new, little known avian species of
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...
and
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...
.
WorldCat Search
(publications)
References
1783 births
1861 deaths
People from Falaise, Calvados
19th-century French zoologists
French ornithologists
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