Johann Natterer

Who was Johann Natterer?

Johann Natterer was an Austrian naturalist and explorer.

In 1817, Emperor Franz I financed an expedition to Brazil on the occasion of the wedding of his daughter Archduchess Leopoldina to the Portuguese crown prince, Dom Pedro of Alcantara. Natterer was the zoologist on the expedition and was accompanied by other naturalists including Johann Baptist von Spix and Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius. Johann Natterer remained in South America for 18 years, until 1835, returning to Vienna with a large collection of specimens, including new species such as the South American Lungfish, which he gave to the Imperial Natural-Science Cabinet, the predecessor of the Naturhistorisches Museum.

Natterer did not publish an account of his travels, and his notebooks and diary were destroyed in the Hofburg fire of 1848 during the Vienna Revolution; however, his specimen collections of 60,000 insects were a part of the "Brazilian museum" in the "Harrach' house" and escaped the fire.

A number of animals are named after Johann Natterer, including Natterer's Slaty Antshrike and Natterer's Bat.