Pierre Sonnerat
From Freepedia
Pierre Sonnerat (August 18, 1748 – March 31, 1814) was a French naturalist and explorer.
Sonnerat was the nephew of the botanist Pierre Poivre. He made several voyages to southeast Asia, visiting the Philippines and Moluccas between 1769 and 1772, and India and China from 1774 to 1781. He was the first person to give a scientific description of the south Chinese fruit tree lychee. He also happens to be the person who misinterpreted the call of a helpful Malagasy guide who had spotted a lemur and shouted "indri!" ("look" in Malagasy). Sonnerat took this to be the animal's name, and it is still known as an Indri today.
His books included Voyage à la Nouvelle-Guinée (1776) and Voyage aux Indes orientales et à la Chine, fait depuis 1774 jusqu'à 1781 (1782).
The standard botanical author abbreviation Sonn. is applied to plants he described.
His name is used in the specific name of the Grey Junglefowl (Gallus sonnerati).
Categories: Biologist stubs | Explorer stubs | French botanists | Botanists active in India | Botanists active in China | Botanists active in the Pacific | Botanists with author abbreviations | French explorers | Naturalists | 1748 births | 1814 deaths
