Taxonomic notes concerning the genus Catharsius Hope, 1837 (Scarabaeidae Scarabaeinae)
Author
Takano, Hitoshi
African Natural History Research Trust, Street Court, Kingsland, Leominster HR 6 9 QA, UK. & Department of Zoology, Oxford University, South Parks Road, Oxford OX 1 3 PS, UK & Department of Life Sciences, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW 7 5 BD, UK
text
Zootaxa
2021
2021-10-14
5052
2
280
286
journal article
3983
10.11646/zootaxa.5052.2.7
5902f0a7-68e2-4de8-9ef2-9e70a20676be
1175-5326
5568728
D8949428-C305-4510-99BB-39498D4421F6
Catharsius omoensis
Müller, 1941
This species was described by Giuseppe Müller from specimens collected by Edoardo Zavattari in Murle (
5°09’N
,
36°13’E
) on the left bank of the Omo River, about
50 km
from Lake Turkana in southern
Ethiopia
. A male
syntype
was studied by
Ferreira (1964b)
and she transferred this taxon to the subgenus
Metacatharsiu
s based purely on body size, despite its absence from
Balthasar’s (1965)
comprehensive work on the subgenus. Subsequently,
Metacatharsius
was raised to genus level (
e.g.
,
Montreuil 1998
) and from re-examination of a male
syntype
housed in MCST, it has become evident that the original placement of this taxon in the genus
Catharsius
was correct.