August Friedrich Schweigger (8 September 1783 – 28 June 1821) was a German naturalist born in Erlangen. He was the younger brother of scientist Johann Salomo Christoph Schweigger (1779-1857).
He studied medicine, zoology and botany at Erlangen, and following graduation spent time in Berlin (from 1804) and Paris (from 1806). In 1809 he was appointed professor of botany and medicine at the University of Königsberg. In 1815, he was elected a corresponding member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. On a research trip to Sicily, he was murdered near Agrigento on 28 June 1821.
The plant genus Schweiggeria from the family Violaceae is named in his honor.
In the scientific field of herpetology, he is best known for his 1812 monograph of turtles, in which he described several new species which are still valid.
Schweigger is the taxonomic authority of Chelydra, a genus of snapping turtles.
In 1812 he described as new species the following 12 species of turtles and tortoises.
Adanson's mud turtle, Pelusios adansonii
Aldabra giant tortoise, Geochelone gigantea
South American river turtle, Podocnemis expansa
Big-headed Amazon River turtle, Peltocephalus dumerilianus
Common toad-headed turtle, Mesoclemmys nasuta
Serrated hinge-back tortoise, Kinixys erosa
Geoffroy's side-necked turtle, Phrynops geoffroanus
Gibba turtle, Mesoclemmys gibba
Indian black turtle, Melanochelys trijuga
South African bowsprit tortoise, Chersina angulata
Mediterranean turtle, Mauremys leprosa
West African mud turtle, Pelusios castaneus
Specimen flora erlangensis, 1805.
Kranken- und Armenanstalten in Paris (Medical and charitable institutions in Paris), Bayreuth: Lübeck, 1809.
Prodromus Monographia Cheloniorum auctore Schweigger. Königsberg. Arch. Naturwiss. Mathem. 1: 271-368, 406-458, 1812.
Einige Worte über Classification der Thiere, (Treatise on the classification of animals), 1812.
Prodromi monographiae cheloniorum, 1814.
Beobachtungen auf naturhistorischen Reisen (Observations on natural history trips). Berlin, 1819.