Aldrovandi, and "his" many (invalid) Birds (1 Viewer)

[Björn Bergenholtz]

Here's a question regarding one of the Great Naturalists of all times, commemorated in the following names (in chronological order) ...

aldrovandi and aldrovandii as in:
• the invalid Dove/Pigeon "Turtur aldrovandi?" WHITE 1789 (here) [most likely a synonym of the (European) Turtle-Dove Streptopelia turtur (Linnaeus, 1758)]*

• the invalid (Aldrovandine) Toucan "Ramphastos Aldrovandi" SHAW 1812 (here) [according to the Key: "a Ramphastos artefact"]:

... This species is a native of Guiana and Brasil, and seems to have been first distinctly described by Aldrovandus. It is said ...

According to the Richmond Card (here): "New name for R. picatus Linn." [if the latter indeed was/is an artefact (as claimed by today's Key) is unknown to me]

• the invalid (Oriental) Falcon/Hobby "Falco aldrovandii [sic]. Reinw." [i.e. Collected by Reinwardt] TEMMINCK 1822 (here, with a Plate on the preceding page), also written/typed [Falco] "aldrovandii" (here), also there with double ending-ii], a k a Faucon aldrovandin (in French) [a synonym of the Oriental Hobby Falco severus Horsfield, 1821] [Note; the -ii, version is not included in today's Key]

• the invalid Scops-Owl "Scops Aldrovandi" FLEMMING 1822** (here, alt. here, in 1828), ex The little Horn-Owl, Scops Aldrovandi, of Ray 1676, alt. 1678, here resp. here [a synonym of the (Eurasian) Scops-Owl Otus scops (Linnaeus, 1758)]

• the invalid Peafowl "Pavo aldrovandi" WILSON 1828 (OD unseen by me, Richmond Card here, probably originating in/from this Book?) [a synonym of the Green Peafowl Pavo muticus Linnaeus, 1766]

• "Merganser Aldrovandi" " REICHENBACH 1852 (OD unseen by me, Richmond Cards here, alt. here) [a synonym of the (Common) Merganser, alt. Eurasian Goosander Mergus merganser Linnaeus, 1758]

• the invalid Curassow "C. [Crax] Aldrovandi" REICHENBACH 1861 (OD unseen by me, Richmond Card here, probably originating in/from this Book?) [unidentified, according to the Key: ex "Crax sp. (ex "Gallus alius indicus" of Aldrovandus 1599-1603)", note; the latter was/is not a trinomal]


In today's Key they are all explained as:

aldrovandi
Prof. Ulisse Aldrovandi or Aldrovandus (1522-1605) Italian physician, naturalist, whose works were much used by early binominal authors (?syn. Crax sp. (ex "Gallus alius indicus" of Aldrovandus 1599-1603), syn. Falco severus, syn. Mergus merganser, syn. Otus scops, syn. Pavo muticus, Ramphastos artefact, syn. Streptopelia turtur).

Which leads me to the following question (and the very reason for this thread itself):

Which is the most correct version of how to write his name?

Only one way could be the (most) correct one. Or should the explanation (in the Key) be read as: Ulisse Aldrovandi a k a Aldrovandus ... ?

Also note that in Scientific Bird Names, by Jobling (Helm, 2010), we find him repeatedly mentioned (below various, multiple entries) as "Aldrovandus, (1599)", which, to me, seems to be his surname in the latinized way ... or?

Most other sources call him simply Aldrovandi, with his Given name written either Ulisse alt. Ulyssis ... !?

See, for example, the excerpt below, by/from ...
Olmi, G., in; Huxley, R. (Ed.), 2007. The Great Naturalists, Thames & Hudson (in association with the National History Museum, London):


Which is all in line with Nationalencyklopedien (the National Swedish Encyclopedia – the most reliable Work of reference/s, in Sweden), where we find him as:

Aldrovaʹndi [***], Ulisse, 1522–1605, italiensk naturvetenskapsman och läkare, från 1553 professor i Bologna, där han grundade en botanisk trädgård och ett museum. ...

[Aldrovandi, Ulisse, 1522–1605, Italian naturalist/scientist and (Medical) Doctor, from 1553 Professor in Bologna, where he founded a Botanical garden and a Museum. ...]

Also note that BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library) him as nothing but:

Aldrovandi, Ulisse, 1522-1605

... with 19 different Works connected to him (here, alt. here).

As well, compare BHL's; "Ulyssis Aldrovandi" here, with "Aldrovandi, Ulisse" (here), and/or with AnimalBase's (more cautious/safer) version; "Aldrovandi, U." here ... and/or onwards/elsewhere (he's pretty easy to find "out there").

Either way, this far, in my notes, I have him as:
• the (Great) Italian naturalist Ulisse Aldrovandi (1522–1605), whose name often is latinized into Aldrovandus (with his Given name often claimed to have been either; Ulysses, alt. Ulissis, or even Ulyssis)

Any opinions?

Björn

PS. In our "Field" he's probably best known for his Ornithologiae (hoc est de avibus historiae), here.

---

*Even if not directly connected, also see the Paper: Streptopelia risoria and how Linnaeus had the last laugh, by Hein van Grouw, published March 2018, in BBOC 138 (1), pp. 11–29, (here) ... either way, it's worth a read.

**Aldrovandi's Scops-Owl was also mentioned in other (post-Linnaean/post-1758) Works, like (for example); L'histoire naturelle ... Synopsis methodica avium, 1767 (here). In the same book we as well find several (many, many) other taxa described by the same Author (but in that certain Book I don't think we should consider all of them as binary (or even trinary!?!) names. If so there are plenty more to discover ... !?!

***Note; that "Aldrovaʹndi" (as it's written in the Swedish Nationalencyklopedien), is not how his name ought to be written (in text/s), but simply a help (for us Swedes) in how to pronounce it.

 

[l_raty]

In Italian (arguably his real name) : Ulisse Aldrovandi.
In Latin (the name under which he published) : Ulysses Aldrovandus.

"Ulyssis Aldrovandi", as e.g. on the title page of Ornithologiae (hoc est de avibus historiae) libri XII, is Ulysses Aldrovandus in the genitive case. (Admittedly, the fact that the Latin version of his last name in the genitive ended up identical to the (undeclinable) Italian version may be a bit confusing.)

(Note -- The title of his book means something like "12 books of ornithology (that is, about the history of birds)". The first word, Ornithologiae, is in the genitive because it complements libri XII -- I would not omit the latter when citing the book, because this results in the title largely loosing its meaning. (Without it, Ornithologiae looks like a plural, which it was never intended to be.))

 

[Björn Bergenholtz]

Thanks, Laurent! As usual a quick response (and an excellent answer!)

Anyone with a different opinion?

/B

 

[kweetal]

Apparently, in Italian, also 'Aldroandi' - see titlepage of:
Le antichità della Città di Roma ...


For the epithet a single -i (i.e., aldrovandi) seems indicated (genitive of the latinised name & the latinised name clearly has no terminal -i).

 

[paranoid numanoid]

Yes, it depends whether you're calling him Latin Aldrovand -(us) [which in a name becomes Aldrovandi] or Italian Aldrovandi, [which in a name becomes Aldrovandii]. My question is: why not Latinise his Italian name as Aldrovandius? Just a thought, I'm probably missing something obvious!