Johann Baptist Fischer Explained

Johann Baptist Fischer
Birth Date:	1803
Birth Place:	Munich (Germany)
Death Place:	Leiden (The Netherlands)
Nationality:	German
Fields:	Zoologist and botanist
Known For:	Synopsis Mammalium ^[1]

Johann Baptist Fischer, born 1803 in Munich (Germany), died 30 May 1832 in Leiden (the Netherlands) was a German naturalist, zoologist and botanist, doctor and surgeon.

Biography

Fischer was the son of a Munich schoolmaster, also named Johann Baptist, and his wife Cäcilie Haimerl. His younger brother was Sebastian Fischer, who also became a physician and naturalist spending part of his career in Russia and then Egypt.^[2]

J. B. Fisher was the assistant of the botanist Carl Ludwig Blume in the former national herbarium of Brussels. In 1826, he joined an expedition to Java, then a possession of the Dutch East Indies, and participated with Blume in writing the description of the species collected.^[3] During the Belgian revolution of September 1830, he helped Philipp Franz von Siebold transferring herbarium specimens from Brussels to Leiden in the Netherlands.^{[4] [5]} Johann Baptist Fischer also devoted himself to the study of mammals, and he published in 1830 his Synopsis Mammalium.^[1] He died at a young age from septic infection.

Taxonomic descriptions

Johann Baptist Fischer described many species of plants, which were proven to be synonyms, as Agathosma desciscens (J.B.Fisch. 1832)^[6] synonym for Agathosma bifida Bartl. & H.L.Wendl., 1824.

In his Synopsis Mammalium,^[1] he also described a number of new mammalian species and subspecies.

Rodents

• Akodon azarae (J. Fischer, 1829), named in honor of the Spanish naturalist Félix de Azara^[1]
• Geocapromys brownii (J. Fischer, 1829), the Jamaican hutia, named in honor of the Irish naturalist Patrick Browne^[1]
• Megalomys desmarestii (J. Fischer, 1829), the muskrat of Martinique, an endemic rodent now extinct, and named in honor of the French zoologist Anselme Gaëtan Desmarest.^[1]

Primates

• Trachypithecus johnii (J. Fischer, 1829), the Nilgiri langur, a small monkey native to the south west of the India, named in honor of the missionary CS John.^{[1] [7]}

Bats

• Centronycteris maximiliani (J. Fischer, 1829), the hirsute bat, named in honor of the prince Maximilian zu Wied-Neuwied^[1]
• Pipistrellus rueppellii (J. Fischer, 1829), the Rüppell's pipistrelle, named in honor of the German naturalist Eduard Rüppell^[1]
• Plecotus austriacus (J. Fischer, 1829), the grey long-eared bat.^[1]

Carnivores

• Caracal caracal nubica (J. Fischer, 1829), the Nubian caracal^[1]
• Genetta genetta senegalensis (J. Fischer, 1829), the Senegalese common genet.^[1]

Marsupials

• Echymipera kalubu (J. Fischer, 1829), the common spiny bandicoot, a small marsupial of New Guinea.^[1]

Notes and References

1. Book: Fischer, Johann Baptist . Synopsis Mammalium. Addenda, Emendanda Et Index Ad Synopsis Mammalium . 1830 . . Stuttgart . 817 . latin .
2. Matzke-Karasz. Renate. Damkaer. David M.. Sebastian Fischer (1806-1871), Bavarian Physician-Naturalist in Egypt and Russia. Journal of Crustacean Biology. 1 January 2012. 32. 2. 327–333. 10.1163/193724011X615497. free.
3. Blume, C. L., Fischer, J. B. 1828. Flora Javae nec non insularum adjacentium. J. Frank, Brüssel. Biodiversity Heritage Library
4. Dorr, L.J., Nicolson, D.H. 2008. Taxonomic Literature, A selected guide to botanical publications and collections with dates, commentaries and types. Suppl. VII: F-Frer. A.R.G Gantner Verlag K.G., Ruggell, 469 p. [p.215-216],
5. Web site: Philipp Franz von Siebold (1796–1866). Wetenschapper in de Oost . Dutch . Philipp Franz von Siebold (1796–1866). Scientist in the East . E. M. Binsbergen . . 2018-02-06 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070328203612/http://www.uba.uva.nl/collecties/object.cfm/objectid=34853D0C-C771-4E13-8B78334417AB31EE . 2007-03-28 . dead .
6. Fischer . Johann Baptist . 1832 . Agathosma desciscens, Species nova, descripta . Bijdragen Tot Natuurkundige Wetenschappen . 7 . 22–25 . Biodiversity Heritage Library.
7. John, CS 1795. Beschreibung einiger Affen aus Kasi im nördlichen Bengalen, vom Missionary John zu Trankenbar. Neue Schriften, Gesellschaft Naturforschender Freunde zu Berlin 1: 211-218