A nomenclatural and taxonomic review of the salamanders (Urodela) from Holbrook’s North American Herpetology
Author
Pyron, R. Alexander
0000-0003-2524-1794
Department of Biological Sciences, The George Washington University, 2023 G St. NW, Washington, DC 20052 rpyron @ colubroid. org; https: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0003 - 2524 - 1794 & Division of Amphibians and Reptiles, Department of Vertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560
rpyron@colubroid.org
Author
Beamer, David A.
Department of Natural Sciences, Nash Community College, Rocky Mount, NC 27804
text
Zootaxa
2022
2022-05-10
5134
2
151
196
journal article
10.11646/zootaxa.5134.2.1
1175-5326
6534805
3C3F497E-7B50-4E49-8983-D773581F18FD
Salamandra rubra
Sonnini de Manoncourt and Latreille, 1801b
Holbrook (1840:123
, pl. 27) offered a modestly detailed account of the Red Salamander (
Pseudotriton ruber
), with a rough illustration by J. H. Richard.
Holbrook (1842e:35
, pl. 9) reprinted the description essentially verbatim with a new drawing by J. Queen which was not noticeably improved. In the second edition, Holbrook noted that he considers
Salamandra subfusca
Green, 1818
and
S. maculata
Green, 1818
synonyms of
S. rubra
,
as even Green had doubted their distinctiveness (see
Pyron and Beamer 2020
). He also lists
S. rubriventris
Green, 1818
and
S. fusca
Green, 1818
as synonyms. The former is correct, though the latter is actually a senior subjective synonym of his
Triton niger
(
Green, 1818
)
and
S. maculo-quadrata
Holbrook, 1840
(see above). In both editions, Holbrook erroneously attributed the original description to
Daudin (1803)
, as the exact publication year of many books from Paris (and thus their nomenclatural priority) were long misunderstood due to the unorthodox calendar of the French Revolution (see
Harper 1940
). We were unable to locate any specimens of this species associated with Holbrook.
Duméril
et al.
(1854:90)
stated that the MNHN held specimens from Holbrook, which we could not locate and were not listed in the catalog or among Holbrook’s donations in the “Inventaire” (
Roux-Estéve 1976
) or “Catalogue taxonomique des Amphibiens.”