Herbert Lang

For other people named Herbert Lang, see Herbert Lang (disambiguation).
Herbert Lang

Herbert Lang (March 24, 1879 – May 29, 1957) was a German zoologist.

Lang was born in Oehringen, Württemberg, Germany. His childhood interest in nature led to a job as a taxidermist and later work at the natural history museum at the University of Zurich.

In 1903, Lang, then 24, emigrated to the U.S. and began working at the American Museum of Natural History. He made his first field expedition to Kenya in 1906, returning with 178 mammal and 232 avian samples.[1]

After his successful expedition, Lang was put in charge of the museum's Congo expedition, accompanied by ornithologist James Chapin. Lang led the expedition, until the outbreak of World War I in 1914.[2] In 1919, he became the assistant curator in the museum's Department of Mammalogy.

Lang returned to Africa, accompanied by Rudyerd Boulton, in 1925 and collected 1,200 mammal specimens, including the rare giant sable antelope. In 1935, he married the widow of a close friend. He died in Pretoria in 1957.[2]

A species of African lizard, Pseudocordylus langi, is named in his honor,[3] as is the combtooth blenny, Hypleurochilus langi [4]

References

  1. ^ Slack, Gordy (2003). "Herbert Lang (1879-1957)". American Museum Congo Expedition 1909-1915. American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  2. ^ a b Meyer, Kendra (7 August 2019). "American Museum of National History Research Library: Lang, Herbert, 1879-1957". American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  3. ^ Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. ("Lang, H.", p. 150).
  4. ^ Christopher Scharpf; Kenneth J. Lazara (26 October 2018). "Order BLENNIIFORMES: Family BLENNIIDAE". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
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