Coenraad Jacob Temminck

Coenraad Jacob Temminck was a Dutch scientist who lived from 31 March 1778 to 30 January 1858. He studied animals, which is called being a zoologist.

As a zoologist, Temminck helped people learn more about birds and other animals. He wrote books and told others about many new animals that were not known before.

Temminck worked to organize animal specimens in museums. This made it easier for people to learn about nature. His work is still remembered today for helping science and education.

Biography

Coenraad Jacob Temminck was born on 31 March 1778 in Amsterdam in the Dutch Republic. He learned about birds from his father, Jacob Temminck, who worked as a treasurer for the Dutch East India Company.

Temminck wrote important books about birds, such as Manuel d'ornithologie, ou Tableau systématique des oiseaux qui se trouvent en Europe in 1815. He also wrote about pigeons and chickens and helped make colorful bird drawings. Later, he became the first director of the National Museum of Natural History in Leiden, a job he held from 1820 until he passed away in 1858.

Works

Coenraad Jacob Temminck worked with Heinrich Kuhl to describe many kinds of parrots, such as the rosella Platycercus icterotis. In 1807, Temminck described a special kind of junglefowl Gallus lafayettii that had no tail. Later, the famous naturalist Charles Darwin thought this bird did not exist, but it did. Temminck also described another junglefowl in 1813. He thought it was one of several wild ancestors of today's farm birds, but Darwin showed that all these birds came from one original kind.

Species named after Temminck

Many animals were named after Coenraad Jacob Temminck in the 1800s, and some of these names are still used today.

These include fish like the armoured suckermouth catfish and the Broadfin shark, reptiles such as the Alligator snapping turtle, and many birds including Temminck's sunbird and the Javan sunbird. Mammals named after him include Temminck's mole and Temminck's pangolin.