Type specimens and type localities of birds collected during the Hemprich and Ehrenberg expedition to Lebanon in 1824
Author
Mlíkovský, Jiří
Author
Frahnert, Sylke
text
Zootaxa
2011
2990
1
29
journal article
10.5281/zenodo.278408
7a094bd8-4285-408f-ad78-89681bc13477
1175-5326
278408
Curruca galactodes
var.
syriaca
Hemprich & Ehrenberg
Sylvia galactodes
Var.
Lichtenstein
, 1825
[Unpublished manuscript name.]
Curruca galactodes
[sic]
var.
syriaca
Hemprich & Ehrenberg, 1833
: 54
.
Now.
Cercotrichas galactotes syriaca
(
Hemprich & Ehrenberg, 1833
)
. See
Hartert (1909: 605)
Type
series.
Hemprich and Ehrenberg (1833: 54)
did not specify on how many specimens they based this form.
Lichtenstein
(1825, Nr. 120–121)
listed two such specimens, both of which qualify as
syntypes
of
C. galactodes syriaca
. Entries in the Inventory Catalogue of the
ZMB
are confused as regards the geographic origin of listed specimens, mainly because specimens
ZMB
3936 and 3939 were interchanged. Only two Hemprich and Ehrenberg specimens (
ZMB
3936 and
ZMB
3940) belong to the
syriacus
form, which agrees with Lichtenstein's (1825) list, and we thus consider these two specimens to be the
syntypes
of
Curruca galactodes syriaca
. Specimens
ZMB
3939 (nominotypical
galactotes
) and
ZMB
3941 (lost) thus do not belong to the
type
series and "Bairut" and “
Syrien
” as their place of origin originally given in the Inventory Catalogue of the
ZMB
is wrong.
As
specimen
ZMB
3941 is lost, no morphological information about its origin is available and we inferred that the data on its origin are wrong in the Inventory Catalogue from the number of specimens that, on the basis of morphology, belong to the subspecies from
Syria
.
Syntype
.
ZMB
3936, mount, unsexed, collected on an unknown date [=
18 June–9 July
or
3–6 August 1824
] in "Abyssinien", which a former curator crossed out and replaced with "Bairut" (label) [= Beirut,
Lebanon
]. Morphologically the bird is
syriacus
, but this subspecies breeds in
Lebanon
and migrates across
Egypt
(
Goodman & Meininger 1989: 382
) to the Horn of Africa (
Redman
et al.
2009
: 308). Theoretically, Hemprich and Ehrenberg thus could have encountered it both at Beirut and in “
Abyssinia
”. However, we think that the locality was confused in the Catalogue due to interchange with specimen
ZMB
3939 and that this individual is the second one collected at Beirut (
Lichtenstein
1825
).
Syntype
.
ZMB
3940 (erroneously registered again as
ZMB
49.140), skin, unsexed, collected on an unknown date [=
18 June–9 July
or
3–6 August 1824
] at “Bairut” (label) [= Beirut,
Lebanon
]. The same locality was crossed out and replaced with “
Syrien
” in the Inventory Catalogue of the
ZMB
. Morphologically the bird fits with race
syriacus
.
Type
locality.
Hemprich and Ehrenberg (1833: 54)
did not specify the geographic origin of this form, but listed it only among the birds from “
Syria
”.
Lichtenstein
(1825)
gave “Bairut” as the collection locality for both specimens he listed (see also
Stresemann 1962
: 387), and
Hartert (1909: 605)
accordingly noted that the
type
locality of this species is “Beirut”.
Vaurie (1959b: 355)
, however, listed the
type
locality as “
Syria
” without explanation. Considering the data in
Lichtenstein
(1825)
, we correct here the
type
locality to Beirut,
Lebanon
. The
type
specimens were collected there during
18 May–9 June 1824
and/or during
2–6 August 1824
.