Village Weaver distribution, type locality circled
Introduction
The Village Weaver was described by Philipp Ludwig Statius Muller in 1776. Muller was a German zoologist who published a German translation of Linnaeus's Natursystem. The supplement in 1776 contained the first scientific classification for a number of species, including that of the Village Weaver. Muller gives his source as Buffon, a French naturalist who was the director at the Jardin du Roi, now called the Jardin des Plantes.
Although Linnaeus had access to the bird descriptions in Brisson 1760, strangely he did not describe the Village Weaver in his 12th edition.
Buffon based his work largely on that of Mathurin Jacques Brisson. Brisson gave the first names ever to the Village Weaver, as "Le Pincon du Senegal" (French) and Fringilla senegalensis (Latin). Brisson noted that the Village Weaver originated from Senegal, from where it had been sent to RAF de Reaumur in France by Michel Adanson, who also collected the Red-billed Quelea.
The first colour illustration of the Village Weaver is in the book by Edme-Louis Daubenton, containing coloured engravings by Francois-Nicolas Martinet.
Weaver Watch
