Lonchura punctulata holmesi Restall, 1992

LeCroy, Mary, 2013, Type Specimens Of Birds In The American Museum Of Natural History Part 11. Passeriformes: Parulidae, Drepanididae, Vireonidae, Icteridae, Fringillinae, Carduelinae, Estrildidae, And Viduinae, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2013 (381), pp. 1-155 : 117

Lonchura punctulata holmesi Restall

Lonchura punctulata holmesi Restall, 1992: 115 (country east of Pontianak and Banjamarsin [Borneo]).

Now Lonchura punctulata nisoria (Temminck, 1830) . See Restall, 1995: 141; Restall, 1997: 34, 103–104; LeCroy, 1999: 214–215; Smythies, 2000: 616–617; Dickinson, 2003: 735; Mann, 2008: 356; Myers, 2009: 197; Payne, 2010: 366.

LECTOTYPE: AMNH 831281 , sex?, said to have come from Semitau, 00.30N, 111.59E, Kalimantan, Borneo, Indonesia, cage bird prepared by R. Restall.

COMMENTS: As noted by LeCroy (1999: 214–215) there are a number of problems associated with this name. Although claimed by Restall (1997: 103–104) to have been described in 1995 ( Restall, 1995: 141), it had been described prior to that date by Restall (1992: 115). That description was based on nine individuals said to have been captured east of Pontianak, 00.05S, 109.16E (Times atlas), and shipped from that city and on 20 individuals shipped from Banjarmasin (5 Banjamarsin), 03.22S, 114.33E (Times atlas); all 29 of these individuals are syntypes of holmesi. Restall (1995: 141) listed only three specimens as syntypes, with their AMNH numbers given. They are said to have come from Semitau, 00.30N, 111.59E, and are apparently from among the nine syntypes said to have come from ‘‘east of Pontianak.’’ Because the supposed collecting locality of the two groups of syntypes were widely separated (with a mountain range between them) and because apparently only the three listed syntypes were preserved, I ( LeCroy, 1999: 214) designated AMNH 831281 as the lectotype, citing the 1985 Code, then in use. The other two syntypes, AMNH 831282 and AMNH 831283, became paralectotypes.

Because none of these specimens was sexed by dissection Restall must have used tail measurements as his means of sexing them. His statement that the male had a longer tail appears to be a circular argument. Restall’s method of measuring the tail, shown in one of his diagrams ( Restall 1992: 116), was made from the tip of the wing to the tip of the tail, which makes comparison with published measurements of other populations impossible.

There has been much discussion of this subspecies in the literature. Smythies (2000: 616) noted the similarity to nisoria from Java and suggested that they might have been introduced into Kalimantan from that Island and then escaped. Payne (2010: 366) synonymized holmesi with nisoria.