Pan troglodytes (Blumenbach 1775)

[Simia] troglodytes Blumenbach 1775, De generis humani varietate native: 37.

Type Locality: Gabon, Mayoumba.

Vernacular Names: Common Chimpanzee.

Subspecies::

Subspecies Pan troglodytes subsp. troglodytes Blumenbach 1775

Subspecies Pan troglodytes subsp. schweinfurthii Giglioli 1872

Subspecies Pan troglodytes subsp. vellerosus Gray 1862

Subspecies Pan troglodytes subsp. verus Schwarz 1934

Distribution: S Cameroon; Gabon; S Republic of Congo; Uganda; W Tanzania; E and N Dem. Rep. Congo; W Central African Republic; Guinea to W Nigeria, south to Congo River in W Africa.

Conservation: CITES – Appendix I; U.S. ESA – Endangered in the wild, Threatened in captivity; IUCN – Endangered as P. t. verus, P. t. troglodytes, P. t. schweinfurthii, and P. t. vellerosus .

Discussion: For authorship of this name, see the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (1988). Watson et al. (2001:315) used the name Homo niger, on the grounds that Homo troglodytes would be a secondary homonym of Homo troglodytes Linnaeus, 1758 (= Homo sapiens); but the new edition of the Code (in force since January 1 st, 2000) permits a senior homonym to be rejected if unused since 1899 (Art. 23.9.), so Homo troglodytes would be an acceptable combination for the chimpanzee. The species has been most recently reviewed by Jones et al. (1996).