Carl Hunstein

Carl Hunstein (1843 — March 13, 1888) was a German ornithologist and plant collector.

Hunstein was born in Homberg, Germany. He emigrated to America, then relocated to New Zealand. From 1885 until his death, he was employed by the German New Guinea Company.^[1]

He was a successful discoverer of new species of birds-of-paradise, such as the:

• Brown sicklebill (Epimachus meyeri Finsch), named in honor of Adolf Bernard Meyer.^[2]
• Stephanie's astrapia (Astrapia stephaniae Finsch & A.B. Meyer), named in honor of Princess Stéphanie of Belgium.^[3]
• Blue bird-of-paradise (Paradisaea rudolphi Finsch), named in honor of Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria.^[4]
• Emperor bird-of-paradise (Paradisaea guilielmi Cabanis).^[5]

Hunstein lost his life when a tidal wave, caused by an submarine volcano, hit the coast of New Britain of the Bismarck Archipelago.^[6][7]

He is commemorated in New Guinea by the Hunstein Mountains and the Hunstein Forest, and in plants and animals including the Hunstein's mannikin (Lonchura hunsteini), Cyathea hunsteiniana and Araucaria hunsteinii.^[8][9][10]

References

1. Nationaal Herbarium Nederland Source: Flora Malesiana ser. 1, 1: Cyclopaedia of collectors
2. Biodiversity Mongabay Epimachus meyeri
3. Biodiversity Mongabay Astrapia stephaniae
4. Beautyofbirds, formerly Avianweb Paradisaea rudolph
5. Flora Fauna News Paradisaea guilielmi
6. (27 March 1888) Tidal Wave at New Britain National Library of Australia, The Brisbane Courier, page 5.
7. Trove Digitalised newspapers and more The Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933).
8. Ecology of Indonesian Papua Part One edited by Andrew J. Marshall, Bruce M. Beehler
9. Google Books A Handbook of the World's Conifers (2 Vols.) by Aljos Farjon
10. Google Books Birds by Richard Bowdler Sharpe