Bibliotheca Herpetologica 17(8)

André Koch, A. and S. Schweiger 2023. On the Provenance of the two large Gharials in the Display Collection of the Natural History Museum Vienna. Bibliotheca Herpetologica 17(8):67–82. Published August 31, 2023. This article is an extended translation of the following publication: Koch, A. and S. Schweiger (2023). Zur Provenienz der beiden großen Gangesgaviale in der Schausammlung des Naturhistorischen Museums Wien. Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien, 125B: 83–100. While exhibits in natural history museums have great value as display and teaching objects, they can also have a provenance that is fascinating and enlightening. One such example are the two large gharial (Gavialis gangeticus) hides exhibited in the Natural History Museum Vienna. They were purchased in 1902 by Franz Steindachner, the then Intendant (Director), and impress with their enormous size of 453 cm and 543 cm, respectively. Although they have been in the museum's collections for 120 years, until recently very little was known about the origin of the two crocodiles and how they originally came to Vienna. During our provenance research, we were able to reconstruct considerable aspects of the path of the two unique specimens from South Asia via the famous animal trader Carl Hagenbeck and the Umlauff family business in Hamburg, Germany, to the Austrian capital. In addition, other large gharial specimens in European natural history museums from Umlauff are discussed and illustrated herein.

Update to: The Exploits of Arvid Blumenthal, Latvia’s “Crocodile Harry” in Australia by C. K. Dodd

 An update to: Dodd, C.K., Jr. 2022. The Exploits of Arvid Blumenthal, Latvia’s “Crocodile Harry” in Australia. Posted 9 March 2022.

In this note, I highlighted the early life of Arvid Blumenthal’s time as a crocodile hunter in Australia as published in several small Latvian booklets. I noted that Rimants Ziedonis, with input from Blumenthal, recounted much of this information in a later book, Nacionālais Dēkainis - Krokodilu Mednieks [National Adventurer – Crocodile Hunter]. This book is extensively updated with information on Blumenthal’s life in Australia (2000, Jumava, Riga, Latvia, 199 p.). In addition to the text, the book contains eight pages of photographs and recounts Blumenthal’s extraordinary life and exploits after leaving the “Deep North” and running an underground (literally) bar and “museum” in Coober Pedy, Australia. Fig. 3 shows the cover of this book, which was unavailable to me until recently. 

Fig. 3. Cover of Nacionālais Dēkainis - Krokodilu Mednieks by Rimants Ziedonis. Author’s collection.

Submitted by: C. Kenneth Dodd, Jr.

 

Bibliotheca Herpetologica 17(7)

Caramaschi, U. and J. P. Pombal Jr. 2023. João Joaquim Pizarro (1842–1906), the first Brazilian to publish on anuran amphibians. Bibliotheca Herpetologica 17(7):56–66. Published August 7, 2023. The contribution of João Joaquim Pizarro (1842–1906), the first Brazilian to publish on anuran amphibians, is analysed. Working at the Museu Nacional, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1876 Pizarro published “De um pequeno animal extremamente curioso e denominado Batrachychthis” [On an extremely curious little animal named Batrachychthys], looking for to defend the “doctrine of transformism, so ably sustained by professor Darwin.” The genus name Batrachychthys Pizarro, 1876, published without association to a species name, was based on a tadpole (deposited in the Museu Nacional, Rio de Janeiro, MNRJ 76) from Potrero Pires (Paraguay). Currently, Batrachychthys Pizarro, 1876 is synonymized with Pseudis Wagler, 1830 and, since Pseudis platensis Gallardo, 1961 is considered a full species, the tadpole described as Batrachychthys belongs to this taxon.