What is Moritz Wagner?
[[File:Moritz Wagner - Geograph und Naturforscher.jpg|thumb|Moritz Wagner]] '''Moritz Wagner''' ([[Bayreuth]], 3 October 1813 – [[Munich]], 31 May 1887) was a [[Germany|German]] [[explorer]], collector, [[geography|geographer]] and [[naturalist]]. Wagner devoted three years (1836–1839) to the exploration of [[Algiers]].<ref>Wagner, Moritz 1841. ''Reisen in der Regentschaft Algier in den Jahren 1836, 1837 und 1838''. 3 vols, Leipzig.</ref> It was there that he made an important discovery in natural history, which he later developed. His idea, first based on a study of flightless beetles, was that [[geographical isolation]] could play a key role in [[speciation]]. Although at first rejected, this idea turned out to be important in the theory of [[evolution]]. From 1852–1855, together with a companion, Wagner travelled through [[North America|North]] and [[Central America]] and the [[Caribbean]]. In May 1843, Wagner toured the [[Lake Sevan]] region of [[Armenia]].<ref>{{cite book |first=John S. |last=Guest |title= The Yezidis: a study in survival |publisher= Routledge |page= 188 |year=1987 |isbn= 0710301154}}</ref> In his old age he committed [[suicide]] in Munich, aged 73. His brother Rudolf was a physiologist and anatomist. == Wagner's significance == Wagner's early career was as a geographer, and he published a number of geographical books about [[North Africa]], the [[Middle East]], and [[tropical]] [[America]]. He was also a keen naturalist and collector, and it is for this work he is best known among biologists. [[Ernst Mayr]], the evolutionist and historian of biology, has given an account of Wagner's significance.<ref>Mayr E. 1982. ''The growth of biological thought: diversity, evolution and inheritance''. Harvard. p562–565.</ref> During his three years in [[Algeria]], Wagner studied (amongst other activities) the flightless [[beetles]] ''Pimelia'' and ''Melasoma''. Each genus is split into a number of species, each of which is confined to a stretch of the north coast between rivers which descend from