Type Specimens Of Birds In The American Museum Of Natural History Part 9. Passeriformes: Zosteropidae And Meliphagidae
Author
Mary
Division of Vertebrate Zoology (Ornithology) American Museum of Natural History
text
Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History
2011
2011-04-29
2011
348
1
193
journal article
0003-0090
[
Macgillivrayornis claudi
Mathews
]
Macgillivrayornis claudi
Mathews, 1914a: 12
(Claudie River, North
Queensland
).
Now
Glycichaera fallax claudi
(Mathews, 1914)
. See
Schodde and Mason, 1999: 339–340
,
Dickinson, 2003: 443
,
Christidis and Boles, 2008: 185–191
, and
Higgins et al., 2008: 654
.
COMMENTS: W.D.K.
MacGillivray (1917: 65)
joined W.R. McLennan for fieldwork on the Claudie River,
12.45S
,
143.17E
(
Storr, 1984: 181
), northern
Queensland
,
Australia
, from
November 1913
to
January 1914
, mentioning the new honeyeater in a letter to editors of
The Emu
(
MacGillivray, 1914b
) and later (
MacGillivray, 1917
, 1918), writing a full account of the trip. Collecting was partly financed by
Mathews (1915b: 81)
, and he examined the entire collection with Mac- Gillivray when he visited
Australia
in 1914, publishing the description of
Macgillivrayornis claudi
in the
South Australian Ornithologist
in
April 1914
, while he was still in
Australia
. In the original description, Mathews only said that the type was from the Claudie River, and gave measurements taken in the flesh, presumably of the type: total length
116 mm
, wing 55, culmen 14, tarsus 18, middle toe and claw 12. Nowhere have I found a statement as to the number of specimens collected, but based on the published measurements, the description was of the female, the males being considerably larger. Of the collection made by MacGillivray and McLennan on the Claudie River, there are
two female
and
three male
specimens in SAMA and
one female
,
two male
, and one unsexed [but male based on measurements] cataloged by Mathews and now in AMNH. In each institution there is a female specimen with the same measurements as those published by Mathews in the description written on the original label in what is apparently MacGillivray’s hand. These
two specimens
, bearing data indicated by Mathews to be those of the ‘‘type,’’ collectively constitute the name-bearing type of
Macgillivrayornis claudi
(ICZN, 1999: 81, Art. 73.2) and are
syntypes
. Other specimens in the type series have no standing as types.
B1380 was deposited in SAMA by Mac- Gillivray probably some time after Mathews’ visit, therefore seen by Mathews when he visited MacGillivray (Brian Blaylock and Philippa Horton, personal commun.). This female specimen bears the date
10 November
1913
in addition to the collecting locality and measurements cited in the original description. In 1915,
MacGillivray (1915: 77–78)
published his fieldnotes on the new bird, citing Mathews’ description and name and the measurements of the type, collected on
10 November 1913
. In so doing, he designated the specimen that is now SAMA no. B1380 the
lectotype
of
Macgillivrayornis claudi
.
AMNH 691184, collected on
20 December 1913
, had been in Mathews’ collection (no. 18466) and came to AMNH with the Rothschild Collection. This specimen bears five labels: (1) MacGillivray’s (no. 84) original label with the date
20 December 1913
clearly written and the measurements cited in the original description written on the field label, presumably by MacGillivray; (2) a Rothschild type label, filled in by hand unknown (i.e., not by Hartert); (3) a Mathews Collection label with sex, place and date of collection, and Mathews’ catalog number (although this was nowhere cited); (4) a Mathews type label, with reference to the description and Mathews’ catalog number; and (5) a ‘‘Figured’’ label, indicating that it was the model for
Mathews (1923a
: pl. 526, opp. p. 411, text p. 411) where he stated that the female specimen collected on
20 December 1913
was the type of
claudi
. There, however, he gave measurements that are slightly different (wing 57, culmen 13, tarsus 18, tail 40), indicating that he had remeasured the skin. Because MacGillivray had already designated the specimen now in SAMA the
lectotype
, the specimen now
AMNH 691184
is the
paralectotype
of
Macgillivrayornis claudi
.
Even though
MacGillivray (1915: 77)
stated that the type was collected by both MacGillivray and McLennan, I think that the
lectotype
and
paralectotype
were both collected by MacGillivray himself because the field labels were not tied on the specimens above the tibiotarsal joint, as was McLennan’s habit (see
Tricodere
[sic]
cockerelli
jardinei
). McLennan was credited with the discovery of the bird by recognizing its call as one he was unfamiliar with and did collect some of the specimens (
MacGillivray, 1915: 77
). The
two females
pictured in
Mathews (1924
: pl. 526, opp. p. 411) may represent two views of Mathews’
paralectotype
of
M. claudi
, as the
lectotype
was presumably in
Australia
when the illustration was made.
W. Longmore (personal commun.) found no MacGillivray or McLennan specimens of
G. fallax claudi
in the H.L. White collection in NMV. However,
one specimen
collected by Kershaw on the Claudie in
April 1914
is in the general collection. According to
MacGillivray (1917: 65)
, Kershaw was collecting for NMV during his stay in northern
Queensland
, and the April collecting date is after MacGillivray’s departure. The specimen apparently was not part of Mathews’
type
series.
The molecular analysis by
Driskell and Christidis (2004)
did not support the proposal by
Schodde and Mason (1999: 339–340)
that
Glycichaera
should be included in the genus
Timeliopsis
.