Norman Edouard Hartweg

Who was Norman Edouard Hartweg?

Dr. Norman Edouard "Kibe" Hartweg was an American herpetologist, Curator of Herpetology for the Museum of Zoology at the University of Michigan, and president of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists. He was a specialist in the taxonomy and distribution of turtles, and is honored by having a subspecies of turtle named after him: the Western Spiny Softshell Turtle, Apalone spinifera hartwegi. He is also credited with having described several new species, including the Big Bend Slider, Trachemys gaigeae, the Oaxacan Patchnose Snake, Salvadora intermedia, and Dunn's Hognose Pit Viper, Porthidium dunni.

Hartweg attained his doctorate at the University of Michigan, under the direction of Dr. Alexander Grant Ruthven and became a professor of zoology at the University. In 1947 he became Curator of Herpetology at the Museum of Zoology. In 1950 he became editor of herpetology for the periodical Copeia, and for 1960 he was elected president of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists. He died on February 16, 1964 after a sudden illness.