• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
Where premium quality meets exceptional value. ZEISS Conquest HDX.

Hovacrex roberti (1 Viewer)

Melanie

Well-known member
Germany
What is known about a Monsieur Robert who collected the holotype of Tribonyx roberti for (or with) Charles Immanuel Forsyth Major?
 
• the (extinct, sub-fossil) Hova Gallinule Hovacrex roberti ANDREWS 1897, as "Tribonyx roberti" (OD, here, in text).

The (brand-new) Key to Scientific Names (here) has him as:
roberti
[...]
• Alphonse Robert (fl. 1901) French collector in Madagascar 1894-1896 and Brazil 1901-1903 (Conopophaga, ‡Hovacrex).
[...]

/B
 
Last edited:
Yes, I've find this too. There is also an entry in the Eponym dictionary of Mammals on him. It seems to be rather difficult to find out his life data.
 
And, even if not inquired for, or in demand, just for completeness sake:
• the Hooded Gnateater Conopophaga roberti HELLMAYR 1905 (here, not much of an OD). 🙄

Also see the Richmond cards; here and here (+ the latter's reference; Hartert 1922, here, with its references; Snethlage,1906, here, and Hellmayr, 1906, here).

Though, all in all, very little about Monsieur Alphonse Robert himself.

Good luck finding him (in full)!

Björn
 
Last edited:
a whole chapter on him here


P

PS RE Hooded Gnateater Conopophaga roberti HELLMAYR 1905 (here) not convinced that could be considered a valid OD (even from 1905).

PPS Here


We have him alleviated to the rank of a cardinal in the Roman Catholic church - I assume a misprint for Monsieur??
 
Last edited:
PS RE Hooded Gnateater Conopophaga roberti HELLMAYR 1905 (here) not convinced that could be considered a valid OD (even from 1905).
Definitely not a valid OD, but the name is often cited from there.
The actual OD, I think, would be this: https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/3479042

Here he is called "Mons. Alphonse Robert" by Hellmayr: https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/3479019

We have him alleviated to the rank of a cardinal in the Roman Catholic church - I assume a misprint for Monsieur??
I think a misinterpretation of "Mons.", as used by Hellmayr.
 
Last edited:
A "Robert, Alphonse, préparateur-naturaliste, r. du Rhône, 30" appears in the 1911 member list of the Société Zoologique de Genève.
https://books.google.com/books?id=m1ILAQAAIAAJ&dq="robert+alphonse"

Could this be same person ? What is the evidence that "our" Alphonse Robert was French ?
My answer would be. Yes it can be the same person (and he makes sense). No evidence that he was French. But consider, even if he lived 1911 in Genève he can be of Frech origin (but Suisse is also possible). Could fit as well to

Adult male (skin and skull) , in British Museum, collected at Montauban, Haute Savoie, France (near Geneva, Switzerland) at altitude of 900 m ., November 8, 1899, by Alphonse Robert. Original number , 22. Geographic distribution.
 
Last edited:
Well done once again. Yes Swiss is very likely as much of Forsyth Major's education was in Switzerland.

Robert was collecting in Montauban , Haute Savoie , France (near Geneva , Switzerland) at altitude of 900 m on November 8 , 1899.

There is a prominent Robert family in Neuchâtel in French speaking Switzerland with one Alphonse born 1852.
 
The Eponym Dictionary of Birds claims:
Hooded Gnateater Conopophaga roberti Hellmayr, 1905
Alphonse Robert (DNF) was a French collector, particularly in South America but also in other parts of the world. He took part in C. I. Forsyth Major's expedition to Madagascar (1894–1896) as his assistant, and collected in Brazil (1901 and 1903) for the BMNH. Five mammals are named after him.

The Eponym Dictionary of Mammals:
Voalavoanala Gymnuromys roberti Major, 1896
Robert’s Hocicudo Oxymycterus roberti Thomas, 1901
Robert’s Spiny Rat Proechimys roberti Thomas, 1901
Robert’s Arboreal Rice Rat Oecomys roberti Thomahttps://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/98617#page/319/mode/1ups, 1904
Robert’s Snow Vole Chionomys roberti Thomas, 1906
Alphonse Robert (dates not found) was a French collector, particularly in South America but also in other parts of the world. He acted as Major’s assistant on an expedition to Madagascar between 1894 and 1896. He collected in Brazil in 1901 for the British Museum of Natural History, and there is a paper by Thomas acknowledging this in the Annals and Magazine of Natural History for 1902 entitled “On Mammals from the Serra Do Mar, Paraná, Collected
by M. Alphonse Robert.” In 1903 he was again collecting in Brazil and in that year collected the type specimen of Barbara Brown’s Titi Callicebus barbarabrownae, the skin of which lay in the museum in London until 1990, when it was described as a new taxon by Dr. Philip Hershkovitz. The voalavoanala (a kind of rat) comes from eastern Madagascar. The hocicudo (also a ratlike rodent) and the spiny rat are both endemic to Brazil. The arboreal rice rat dwells in the Amazon basin, from southern Venezuela and the Guianas to eastern Peru and northern Bolivia. The vole can be found in northeast Turkey and the western Caucasus.

  • Gymnuromys roberti Major, 1896 OD here
  • Oxymycterus roberti Thomas, 1901 OD here
  • Proechimys roberti Thomas, 1901 OD here
  • Oecomys roberti Thomas, 1904 OD here
  • Chionomys roberti Thomas, 1906 OD here
 
Last edited:
Let´s return to Alphonse Robert ...

In today's Key we find him as:
roberti
...
● Alphonse Robert (fl. 1903) French botanist, collector in Madagascar 1894-1896, Brazil and Paraguay 1901-1903 (Conopophaga, Gallinula).
...

a whole chapter on him here
...
That link is today sadly defunct, however we (still) find it accessible on the Internet Archive:
• Straube, F. C. 2015. Alphonse Robert (pp. 49–67), in: Ruínas e urubus: história da Ornitologia no Paraná. Período de Chrostowski, 1 (1901-1909). Curitiba, Hori Consultoria Ambiental. Hori Cadernos Técnicos n° 10. viii + 273 pp. (here, all in Portuguese).

A "Robert, Alphonse, préparateur-naturaliste, r. du Rhône, 30" appears in the 1911 member list of the Société Zoologique de Genève.
https://books.google.com/books?id=m1ILAQAAIAAJ&dq="robert+alphonse"

Could this be same person ? What is the evidence that "our" Alphonse Robert was French ?
My answer would be. Yes it can be the same person (and he makes sense). No evidence that he was French. But consider, even if he lived 1911 in Genève he can be of Frech origin (but Suisse is also possible). ...

I guess the main phrase (and the most frustrating one ;)) in Fernando Costa Staube's rich, and very thorough, Paper (above), would be the very beginning of it, on p.49 [my blue bold]:
Pouco, ou quase nada, foi possível reunir sobre o coletor profissional, provavelmente francês39, chamado ALPHONSE ROBERT. Não há dúvida, entretanto, que é mais uma daquelas enigmáticas personalidades ligadas à História Natural no Brasil, ...
Google translate:
Little, if anything, was possible to compile about the professional collector, probably French39, called ALPHONSE ROBERT. There is no doubt, however, that he is yet another of those enigmatic personalities linked to Natural History in Brazil, ...

Also see the foot-note (No.39, on the same page):
39 Embora mencionado como “francês” em pelo menos três fontes (Snethlage, 1914:9; Jenkins & Carleton, 2005:1809; Beolens et al., 2009:343) não foi possível confirmar essa afirmação, para a qual faltam fontes mais fidedignas.
[Google ditto:] Although mentioned as “French” in at least three sources (Snethlage, 1914: 9; Jenkins & Carleton, 2005: 1809; Beolens et al., 2009: 343) it was not possible to confirm this statement, for which more reliable sources are lacking.

From the little I can tell, of Straube's long text, the last trace of him seems to be from Brazil, in October 1905 (see p.51): "1905 – Pará: Santo Antônio do Prata (outubro de 1905)", that is, if I understood it all correctly, of course.

As most of you know by now, Portuguese isn't my strong side ... :rolleyes:

If he's the same guy as the one who appeared in the Member list of the Société Zoologique de Genève (in Switzerland), in 1911 ... I cannot tell. But why not?

Björn
 
Last edited:
Also note that Global Plants [here] have him as (nothing but):

Robert, Alphonse (fl. 1901-1903)​

[...]
Collecting Dates
1901 - 1903
[...]
Countries
Brazilian region: BrazilTemperate [sic] South America: Paraguay

However, the only (tiny, tiny) piece, or trace, that I can add is found in; The birds of Matto Grosso, Brazil : a report on the birds secured by the Roosevelt-Rondon Expedition, in Bulletin of the AMNH ; volume 60 (1930), where we find him mentioned as: "... the late Alphonse Robert ..." (here), on p.332. (alt. on p.364, in the PDF itself).

Not much, but at least we now know that he seemingly passed away, at some point, between 1905 and 1930.

Looks like a seriously tricky guy to find.

/B
 
Last edited:
Some of the many different pieces in this puzzle doesn't seem to fit (at least not for me). Sigh! ... :rolleyes:

As far as I can tell he seems to have been in Brazil, for the second time, in 1904 (but for how long I do not know, alt. do not understand). Either way, to me, in comparison to what's told in the Key (above, in post #13) he seems to have been collecting even earlier in Brazil.

See Historia de la mastozoología en Latinoamérica, las Guayanas y el Caribe, 2014 (here), where we find the following (short) phrase (on p.79):
Las colectas de Simons incluían numerosos duplicados y han sido consideradas como las más importantes en Sudamérica para la época, después de las colecciones de Alphonse Robert en Brasil, en 1897.
... !?!

He's also mentioned briefly (on p.117, top of page).

Or is this just a piece missing (in the Key) ... :unsure:

/B
 
Last edited:
Thus, let's leave South America, for a quick return to his adventures on Madagascar ...

In the report On the General Results of a Zoological Expedition to Madagascar in 1894-96, by C. I. Forsyth Major, published in Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 64 (No.4), pp. 971-981 (here), from 1896, we find the following/ending words:
In conclusion it is my duty to speak in the highest terms of the intelligence, pluck, and perseverance displayed by my young assistant, Mr. Alphonse Robert, who refused to leave me when his life was in danger from staying with me.
... which made me think of Paul's post (below):
Well done once again. Yes Swiss is very likely as much of Forsyth Major's education was in Switzerland.

Robert was collecting in Montauban , Haute Savoie , France (near Geneva , Switzerland) at altitude of 900 m on November 8 , 1899.

There is a prominent Robert family in Neuchâtel in French speaking Switzerland with one Alphonse born 1852.

To me the, or any ("young assistant", in the mid-1890's) doesn't sound like a guy born in 1852.

If so he would have been well over 40 when that particular expedition took place. Also consider that the Scottish-born/Swiss Expedition leader, Dr. C. I. [Charles Immanuel] Forsyth Major, himself was born in 1843.

Or could it be him ("our guy"), born in 1852 ... ? :unsure:

Equally noteworthy is the following text found in Nature 69, (from 1903), on p. 203. (i.e. the same text as quoted by Straube, 2015, on pp.52–53):
NOTES
M. ALPHONSE ROBERT, the energetic natural history collector who accompanied Dr. Forsyth Major some years ago in his expedition to Madagascar, and who only returned to England a few months ago from a three years' sojourn in Brazil, has just started on another collecting trip to the latter country, where his first destination is Para. The expenses of both the previous and the present expedition, which are undertaken in the interests of the British Museum, are borne by Mrs. Percy Sladen. M. Robert, we understand, intends to spend some time collecting at Para, and thence to ascend the Amazons into Peruvian territory. The specimens collected by M. Robert during his last trip have done much to increase our knowledge of the mammalian fauna of the Matto Grosso and adjacent districts of Brazil, and the novelties obtained have been from time to time recorded by Mr. O. Thomas in the Annals of Natural History. Among these are several new bats (one indicating a new generic type), a squirrel, and a new race of the crab-eating fox (Canis thous angulensis). M. Robert has also obtained a fine series of skins of the large and handsome brown woolly spider-monkey (Brachyteles arachnoides), a pair of which are now being set up by Mr. Rowland Ward for the British (Natural History) Museum.

[from here]
... which clearly is a reference to the 'Percy Sladen Expedition to Central Brazil', in 1902 as reported here (in 1903):
By the generosity of Mrs. Percy Sladen, Mr, Alphonse Robert, who had already done such good work in São Paolo and Paranà, was able to ...
[...]
Mr. Robert’s expedition was completely successful in spite of the many difficulties in his way, and of his being unaccompanied by any European helper. The collection, of which the present paper gives an account, is an astonishing one for him to have been able to obtain and prepare ...

He sure was travelling!

/B
 
Last edited:
But ... apparently, onwards, just a few years later (in 1906), according to the same Author, Oldfield Thomas, Mr. Robert kept on travelling (see here):
DURING the last quarter of 1905 Mr. Alphonse Robert, already so well known for his South-American collections, made a trip to Trebizond, in order to obtain series of the small mammals of that region, hitherto almost unrepresented in the British Museum.
Along the northern coast of this part of Asia Minor ...
That's the very first time I've seen him noted in that particular Region! I assume it would be equal of (L’Empirede) Trébizonde (in French), alt. today's Trabzon, in today's Turkey ...

However, that's the last trace I can find of what (to me) clearly seems to be "our guy" ...

All in all, take it for what it's worth ... (as in so many other cases, when we're also dealing with French, and Portuguese texts, I'm simply fumbling around, in the Dusk).

/B
 
Last edited:
And, a last, final post (and a mere, true long-shot), on my part ... 😬 ...

Is this (on p.7) maybe his Death notice (or not?), published in L’Impartial – journal quotidien et feuille d’annonces, on the 9th of March, 1940, all in French ... ?!?

Death notice (1940)?.jpg

... if so we might be looking at a guy born in the mid-1860s.

Disclaimer: Or, maybe it's just a namesake ... (is it even possible to make any deductions out of it)? Either in favour of, or against ...

In any case, it would certainly contradict the claim of: "... the late Alphonse Robert" (as told in 1930). :rolleyes:

Well, either way, that's it! I'm done. That's all I can find about Alphonse Robert.

See you all elsewhere ... in other threads.

/B

PS. And; Good luck to anyone digging further! 🔎
 
freedictionary says, with regard to 'late' :

a. Having recently occupied a position or place: the company's late president gave the address.
b. Dead, especially if only recently deceased: in memory of the late explorer.

So apparently it does not /necessarily/ means 'dead'. (Although with a name perhaps it does?)
 
Last edited:

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top