René Maugé de Cely

René Maugé was born in 1757 in Cély-en-Bière, Seine-et-Marne.^[1] Details about his early life are unknown. In May 1794, he started work at the Muséum Nationale d’Histoire Naturelle where he was trained in taxidermy by Louis Dufresne.^[2]

From 1796 to 1798, he joined Nicolas Baudin on a government-supported expedition to collect bird specimens in Tenerife, St. Thomas, St. Croix and Puerto Rico.^[2] There, Maugé collected 296 bird specimens.^[1]

On 19 October 1800, aged 42,^[3] he again joined Baudin on Expédition aux terres australes (1800-1804) a voyage to Tenerife, Mauritius, Australia and Timor with the corvette Le Géographe and the store-ship Le Naturaliste.^[4] Maugé was appointed by Antoine-Laurent de Jussieu, director of the Muséum Nationale d’Histoire Naturelle, as one of the official expedition zoologists. The scientific expedition and collection of specimens was challenging in the uncharted territory.^[4] On the expedition to Timor, Maugé would describe at least fifty-two species new to science.^[1]

On 20 February 1802, Maugé died of dysentery on board the Le Géographe off the east coast of Tasmania.^[5] His body is buried at Point Mauge on Maria Island.^[6][7][8][9] His death was a considerable blow to the expedition. After his death, many of Maugé's collections from Timor were dispersed and some were lost.^[1]

• Aratinga chloroptera maugei, Puerto Rican conure, taxonomic authority Charles de Souancé, 1856.
• Dicaeum maugei, the blue-cheeked flowerpecker, taxonomic authority René Primevère Lesson 1830.
• Geopelia maugeus, barred dove, taxonomic authority Coenraad Jacob Temminck, 1809.
• Testacella maugei, species of carnivorous land slug, taxonomic authority André Étienne d'Audebert de Férussac, 1819.
• The Maugean skate, discovered in Tasmania, Australia, in 1988, was named for Maugé.