German paleontologist and vertebrate zoologist, Kaup published a great deal between 1823 and 1871. He presented a peculiar new classification system for birds which was never accepted. Elected a correspondent of the Academy in 1848, he wrote of a projected trip to the United States and offered to sell his large collection of Lepidoptera to the Academy. A list of 4,525 species accompanied the letter. The four colored classification charts refer to ornithology, with vignettes of various types of birds, one at the tip of each of the five points of the star. Each plate is marked Kaup in the upper right corner.