The zoological contributions of Andrew Smith (1797–1872) with an annotated bibliography and a numerical analysis of newly described animal species

Abstract

The army surgeon Andrew Smith studied South African fauna when he was the first Superintendent of the South African Museum in Cape Town. He visited some interior parts of the country, especially as commander of the Expedition for Exploring Central Africa in 1834–1836. His early work was published in rare and obscure journals printed in Cape Town, like the Cape Town Gazette and African Advertiser, the South African Commercial Advertiser and the South African Quarterly Journal. After his return to England in 1836, he exhibited animals found during his expeditions and he started to publish the Illustrations of the Zoology of South Africa, which appeared in 28 parts between 1838 and 1849 and was splendidly illustrated by George Henry Ford. The bibliography of all works authored by Smith is reconstructed here in detail, including for the first time items published in the Kaapstads Courant en Afrikaansche Berigter. It is found that he was the author of 142 works between 1819 and 1849. In these works, he described many new species. The name Accipiter selbyii A.Smith, 1829 was rediscovered. Some of the new names are now considered unavailable for purposes of zoological nomenclature, due to incorrect spellings, names without proper descriptions or emendations. However, he is known to be the first author of 76 generic names (67 available, 9 unavailable) and 558 specific names (460 available and 98 unavailable). At least 257 specific names are still in current use for mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fishes. Andrew Smith was a true pioneer of South African zoology.