August Friedrich Schweigger


August Friedrich Schweigger was a German naturalist born in Erlangen. He was the younger brother of scientist Johann Salomo Christoph Schweigger.
He studied medicine, zoology and botany at Erlangen, and following graduation spent time in Berlin and Paris. In 1809 he was appointed professor of botany and medicine at the University of Königsberg. In 1815, he was elected a corresponding member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. On a research trip to Sicily, he was murdered near Agrigento on 28 June 1821.
The plant genus Schweiggeria from the family Violaceae is named in his honor.
In the scientific field of herpetology, he is best known for his 1812 monograph of turtles, in which he described several new species which are still valid.

Turtle taxa described by Schweigger

Schweigger is the taxonomic authority of Chelydra, a genus of snapping turtles.
In 1812 he described as new species the following 12 species of turtles and tortoises.