Friedrich Wilhelm Alexander von Mechow

Members of the Deutschen Gesellschaft zur Erforschung Äquatorial Afrikas (1876). Left to right (Europeans in hats): Eduard Pechuël-Loesche, Otto Lindner, Paul Güssfeldt, Major von Mechow, Julius Falkenstein (explorer) [de]

Friedrich Wilhelm Alexander von Mechow (9 December 1831 in Lauban – 14 March 1904 in Jugenheim)[1] was a Prussian explorer of Africa,[2] and a naturalist. Von Mechow was a specialty collector of phanerogams, particularly in Angola.[2] He held the rank of major in the Prussian Army.

Von Mechow joined the Loango-expedition under Paul Güssfeldt.[3] He undertook a second larger exploration between 1879 and 1882 in Angola, where he explored the middle course of the Kwango River. He collected birds for Jean Cabanis and Anton Reichenow at Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin.

Several species are named for him including a butterfly (Papilio mechowi ), the dusky long-tailed cuckoo (Cercococcyx mechowi ), and Mechow's mole-rat (Fukomys mechowii ).

Von Mechow is commemorated in the scientific name of a species of African snake, Xenocalamus mechowii,[4] and also Mechowia, a genus of flowering plants from Angola, Zambia and Zaïre, belonging to the family Amaranthaceae.[5]

Works

Mechow: Kartenwerk meiner Kuango-Expedition. 28 Blätter. Berlin

References

  1. ^ "von Mechow Family of Sellersville, PA:Information about Friedrich Wilhelm Alexander von Mechow". Genealogy.com. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
  2. ^ a b "Harvard University Herbaria & Libraries Index of Botanists". Harvard University Herbaria & Libraries. Harvard University. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
  3. ^ "Who=Who". African Art Archives. Archived from the original on 14 July 2015. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
  4. ^ 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. ("Mechow", p. 174).
  5. ^ "Mechowia Schinz | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 27 May 2021.

Additional references


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