Nomenclature of African species of the genus Stenodactylus (Squamata: Gekkonidae)AuthorMetallinou, MargaritaAuthorCrochet, Pierre-AndrétextZootaxa201336913365376journal article10.11646/zootaxa.3691.3.55260f7d6-9e33-4d00-b4e2-434e3deb55151175-5326222294F11A48F1-3F49-48EE-A819-7CF44E0BE0FAAscalabotes sthenodactylusLichtenstein
, 1823
1823
Ascalabotes
sthenodactylus
Lichtenstein, Verzeichniss
der Doubletten
des zoologischen Museums der Königl.
Universität zu
Berlin nebst Beschreibung vieler bisher unbekannter Arten
von Säugethieren, Vögeln, Amphibien und
Fischen: 102.
Ascalabotes sthenodactylus
was described very briefly by
Lichtenstein
(1823b) in the catalogue of duplicate specimens from the collections of the Zoological Museum of Berlin (ZMB, now Museum für Naturkunde). The original description does not refer to any particular specimen, nor does it mention the number of specimens examined, and provides but a very imprecise
type
locality: “
Aegypt
. et
Nubia
” (=
Egypt
and
Nubia
).
Bauer and Günther (1991) and Bauer (2000) gave more detailed information about the specimens on which this name was based. According to these sources,
Lichtenstein
(1823b) established this nomen based on specimens collected by Hemprich and Ehrenberg in
Egypt
and
Nubia
, some of which are still preserved in the Berlin museum. From these five remaining
syntypes
(Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin, ZMB 437A–C and 438A–B), Bauer and Günther (1991) designated specimen ZMB 437A as
lectotype
of
Ascalabotes sthenodactylusLichtenstein
, 1823
.
According to the same authors, the collection locality of this specimen is “
Egypt
”. In addition, there is one specimen in the BMNH (1946.8.20.49) catalogued as one of the original
syntypes
of
Ascalabotes sthenodactylus
. This specimen originates from
Nubia
and was presented by Dr. J. Anderson. There is no additional information available supporting its identification as one of the original
syntypes
. Even if this specimen were part of the original
type
series, it would now have lost its status as name-bearing
type
after the aforementioned
lectotype
designation.
According to Bauer (2000), however, the nomen was based on Hemprich’s hand-written notes where he also detailed that the series of specimens that includes the
lectotype
originated from “Tscheile” (=el Achterieh, now Al Dukhaylach
31°08’N29°49’E
according to Bauer
et al.
2003) or Abusiris (an archeological site located close to Burg El Arab
30°55’N29°32’E
). Thus, one of these two localities currently constitutes the
type
locality.
FIGURE 1
. Lectotype (ZMB 437A) of
Ascalabotes sthenodactylus
Lichtenstein, 1823
, photos F. Tillack.
Upon examination of pictures of the specimen ZMB 437A, kindly sent to us by M.-
O
. Rödel (
Fig. 1
, photographs by F. Tillack), we realized that it presents traits characteristic of the species now called
Stenodactylus mauritanicus
Guichenot, 1850
: the snout profile is strongly convex and the nostrils do not project much (see Baha El Din 2006, which fully agrees with our own examination of a large series of specimens from North Africa, many of which genotyped by Metallinou
et al.
2012). In addition, the localities where the
lectotype
could have been collected are both found in the mesic coastal Mediterranean areas west of the Nile delta, where, according to Baha el Din (2006) and Metallinou
et al.
(2012), only
S. mauritanicus
occurs nowadays,
S. sthenodactylus
occurring in more xeric habitats further inland.
It is therefore clear that the
lectotype
of
Ascalabotes sthenodactylus
is a specimen of the species currently known as
Stenodactylus mauritanicus
, in obvious contradiction to the prevailing usage of these names. According to the Code Article 75.6, an author who discovers that “the existing name-bearing
type
of a nominal species-group taxon is not in taxonomic accord with the prevailing usage of names” should maintain prevailing usage and request the Commission to set aside the existing name-bearing
type
and designate a
neotype
. Prevailing usage is defined by the Code as “that usage of the name which is adopted by at least a substantial majority of the most recent authors concerned with the relevant taxon, irrespective of how long ago their work was published”. All authors that have used both names as valid (usually as distinct subspecies of the same species) applied
mauritanicus
to the northwestern taxon and
sthenodactylus
to the southern and eastern taxon: see for ex. Baha El Din 2006; Bons & Geniez 1996; Leviton 1992; Loveridge 1947; Pasteur 1960; Sindaco 2008. Metallinou
et al.
(2012) provide an updated insight into the distribution patterns of the two species, through a large collection of genotyped samples.
We thus propose to maintain
Ascalabotes sthenodactylusLichtenstein
, 1823
as the valid nomen of the taxon to which it has been applied until now and will apply to the Commission in due course to designate as
neotype
of
Ascalabotes sthenodactylusLichtenstein
, 1823
a specimen of the eastern taxon for which this name has been used—to our knowledge—by all authors.
Name-bearing
type
:
currently Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin, ZMB 437A,
lectotype
by designation of Bauer and Günther (1991), pending decision of the International Commission of Zoological Nomenclature.
Type
locality:
currently either Al Dukhaylach (
31°08’N29° 49’E
) or Abusiris near Burg El Arab (
30°55’N29°32’E
), both in
Egypt
.
Proposed status:Stenodactylus sthenodactylus
(
Lichtenstein
, 1823)
.