Fritz Jürgen Obst

Fritz Jürgen Obst (3 April 1939 – 10 June 2018) was a German herpetologist and museum director. His main research interests were snakes and turtles.

Biography Obst lost his father at the age of four and grew up as a half-orphan in war-torn Dresden. After completing secondary school, he intended to study biology but could not leave the city due to his mother’s care needs. Instead, he studied art education and history and worked as a teacher. Following his mother’s death in 1964, he began studying biology at the University of Leipzig, completing his degree in 1968 with a diploma thesis titled Taxonomic Studies on European Land Tortoises (Reptilia: Testudinidae) Using Serological-Immunological Methods.

Eponyms The following three taxa of reptiles are named in honor of Obst. Emys orbicularis fritzjuergenobsti – a subspecies of the European pond turtle Cuora mouhotii obsti – a subspecies of the keeled box turtle Pristurus obsti – a species of gecko

Selected works with Walter Meusel: Die Landschildkröten Europas, 1963 (6 editions through 1978). with Hans-Albert Pederzani (ed.): Schildkröten, 1980. with Wolf-Eberhard Engelmann: Mit gespaltener Zunge. Aus der Biologie und Kulturgeschichte der Schlangen, 1981. (English edition: Snakes. Biology, Behavior and Relationship to Man, 1982). Schmuckschildkröten. Die Gattung Chrysemys, 1983. with Klaus Richter and Udo Jacob: Lexikon der Terraristik und Herpetologie, 1984. (English edition: The Completely Illustrated Atlas of Reptiles and Amphibians for the Terrarium, 1988). Die Welt der Schildkröten, 1985. (English edition: Turtles, Tortoises and Terrapins, 1986). with Wolf-Eberhard Engelmann, Jürgen Fritsche, Rainer Günther: Lurche und Kriechtiere Europas, 1985 (2nd ed. 1993). Die Amphibien und Reptilien Deutschlands, 1996. Amphibios – vom Wunder der Verwandlung, 2008. with Bernd Sparmann: Bergmannsleuchter – Sächsisches Zinn in besonderer Form, 2015.