Albrecht Manegold (born 1973 in Mannheim[1]) is a German ornithologist and paleontologist. He is the curator of the vertebrate collection at the State Museum of Natural History Karlsruhe. He is known for contributions to the study of early passerine evolution. He has described extinct passerines and piciformes including the fossil treecreeper Certhia rummeli and the fossil woodpecker Australopicus nelsonmandelai.
Manegold studied biology at the Free University of Berlin.[2] He completed his PhD thesis in 2005, on the phylogeny and evolution of the Coraciiformes (kinfishers, bee-eaters and allies), Piciformes (woodpeckers and allies), and Passeriformes (perching birds).[3] He worked at Senckenberg Research Institute. He is presently the curator of the vertebrate collection of the State Museum of Natural History Karlsruhe, with research focus on fossil birds of the Maghreb and South Africa and paleornithological reconstruction.[4]
Manegold described the extinct treecreeper Certhia rummeli from a fossilized right tarsometatarsus found in karstic fissure fillings in Petersbuch, Bavaria.[5] The fossil woodpecker Australopicus nelsonmandelai, found at the Langebaanweg fossil site in South Africa, and representing the oldest known woodpecker in Africa, was described and named by Manegold for South African president Nelson Mandela's 94th birthday.[6][7][8]