Friedrich Wilhelm Alexander von Mechow, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

Friedrich Wilhelm Alexander von Mechow

German zoologist

Date of Birth: 09-Dec-1831

Place of Birth: Silesia, Poland

Date of Death: 01-Jan-1890

Profession: zoologist, botanist, soldier

Nationality: German Empire

Zodiac Sign: Sagittarius

Friedrich Wilhelm Alexander von Mechow (born December 9, 1831, in Lauban; d.
March 14, 1904 in Jugenheim) was a Prussian explorer of Africa, and a naturalist.
Von Mechow was a specialty collector of phanerogams, particularly in Angola.
He held the rank of major in the Prussian Army. Von Mechow joined the Loango-expedition under Paul Güssfeldt.
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.