taxonID	type	description	language	source
8E4B87A7FFCF0378FF4C40F54145E20D.taxon	materials_examined	Name-bearing type: Unknown number of syntypes, unknown whereabouts, one of the syntypes figured in Reiche (1842: pl. 5, fig. 1 a – g) (Fig. 3 D). Type locality: Western Australia, Australia.	en	Cupello, Mario, Bouchard, Patrice, Hart, Maximillian, Barclay, Maxwell V. L. (2025): The nomenclature of the Australasian dung beetle genera Mentophilus Castelnau, 1840 and Tesserodon Hope, 1837 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae). Zootaxa 5659 (4): 483-510, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2
8E4B87A7FFCF0378FF4C40F54145E20D.taxon	discussion	Remarks: First cited in the combination Mentophilus carinatus by Lacordaire (1855: 85, footnote 1). Since Matthews (1974), erroneously cited in the literature as “ Mentophilus hollandiae Castelnau, 1840 ”, an unavailable name. The species was originally said to be simply Australian — “ Australiens ” (Reiche 1841) — but, given the distribution, the type material can only have been collected somewhere in Western Australia, and so we state this as the type locality.	en	Cupello, Mario, Bouchard, Patrice, Hart, Maximillian, Barclay, Maxwell V. L. (2025): The nomenclature of the Australasian dung beetle genera Mentophilus Castelnau, 1840 and Tesserodon Hope, 1837 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae). Zootaxa 5659 (4): 483-510, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2
8E4B87A7FFCF0378FF4C40F54145E20D.taxon	distribution	Distribution: Western coast of Australia, from the tip of the North West Cape south to Watheroo National Park, in the state of Western Australia (Matthews 1974; Atlas of Living Australia 2024).	en	Cupello, Mario, Bouchard, Patrice, Hart, Maximillian, Barclay, Maxwell V. L. (2025): The nomenclature of the Australasian dung beetle genera Mentophilus Castelnau, 1840 and Tesserodon Hope, 1837 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae). Zootaxa 5659 (4): 483-510, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2
8E4B87A7FFCF0378FF4C418E461FE4F9.taxon	type_taxon	Type species: Aulacium carinatum Reiche, 1841, by subsequent designation of Bouchard et al. (2024) under Article 70.3.2 of the Code.	en	Cupello, Mario, Bouchard, Patrice, Hart, Maximillian, Barclay, Maxwell V. L. (2025): The nomenclature of the Australasian dung beetle genera Mentophilus Castelnau, 1840 and Tesserodon Hope, 1837 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae). Zootaxa 5659 (4): 483-510, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2
8E4B87A7FFCF0378FF4C418E461FE4F9.taxon	discussion	Remarks: See Bouchard et al. (2024) for the multiple original spellings of Mentophilus; the authors selected the latter instead of its two original alternatives — Mintophilus and Minthophilus — as the correct original spelling through the Principle of the First Reviser (Article 24.2.3).	en	Cupello, Mario, Bouchard, Patrice, Hart, Maximillian, Barclay, Maxwell V. L. (2025): The nomenclature of the Australasian dung beetle genera Mentophilus Castelnau, 1840 and Tesserodon Hope, 1837 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae). Zootaxa 5659 (4): 483-510, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2
8E4B87A7FFCF0378FF4C46A94445E014.taxon	materials_examined	Name-bearing type: Unsexed holotype by inferred monotypy at Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris (Matthews 1974). Type locality: Western Australia, Australia.	en	Cupello, Mario, Bouchard, Patrice, Hart, Maximillian, Barclay, Maxwell V. L. (2025): The nomenclature of the Australasian dung beetle genera Mentophilus Castelnau, 1840 and Tesserodon Hope, 1837 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae). Zootaxa 5659 (4): 483-510, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2
8E4B87A7FFCF0378FF4C46A94445E014.taxon	discussion	Remarks: Sharp (1873) did not mention how many specimens he saw for the description of M. subsulcatus and did not explicitly fix a sole name-bearing type. He gave, however, a specific figure for the length of his new species, “ Long. 3 lin. ½ ”, which might suggest he only had one specimen in front of him, the holotype by monotypy. This was Matthews’ (1974) implied interpretation, which we do not dispute. Also, Sharp (1873) limited himself to saying that the species originated simply from Australia — “ Hab. Nov. - Holl. occ. ” — but, given the distribution, the type material is certainly from somewhere in Western Australia.	en	Cupello, Mario, Bouchard, Patrice, Hart, Maximillian, Barclay, Maxwell V. L. (2025): The nomenclature of the Australasian dung beetle genera Mentophilus Castelnau, 1840 and Tesserodon Hope, 1837 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae). Zootaxa 5659 (4): 483-510, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2
8E4B87A7FFCF0378FF4C46A94445E014.taxon	distribution	Distribution: Western coast of Australia, from the Shark Bay area south to Port Denison (Matthews 1974; Atlas of Living Australia 2024). The Queensland record found in the Atlas of Living Australia (2024) is certainly inaccurate.	en	Cupello, Mario, Bouchard, Patrice, Hart, Maximillian, Barclay, Maxwell V. L. (2025): The nomenclature of the Australasian dung beetle genera Mentophilus Castelnau, 1840 and Tesserodon Hope, 1837 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae). Zootaxa 5659 (4): 483-510, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2
8E4B87A7FFCE0379FF4C43974650E5FB.taxon	discussion	Remarks: After originally treating Tesserodon ambiguously as a subgenus (Hope 1837: p. 55) and as a full genus (pl. 3) in his review of the Linnaean and Fabrician scarabs, Hope (1838: 324) himself treated it definitively as a genus in his following year’s review of the Olivier (1789 a, b) scarabs (“ Novae Hollandiae. Now the type of the genus Tesserodon, Hope ”). This has been accepted ever since. Hope (1837) remarked in the original description that, in addition to “ S. hollandiae ”, there were “ three or four undescribed species in different collections ” belonging to Tesserodon. While this indicated that Tesserodon was not taxonomically monospecific, nomenclaturally, it originally was, as only one nominal species (i. e., only one described, named species) was assigned to the new genus-group taxon, S. novaehollandiae. This fixed it as the type species by original monotypy under Articles 67.6 and 68.3 even though Hope (1837) — in the text (Fig. 5 A – B), but not on the figure plate (Fig. 5 C) — referred to it under Fabricius’s (1781) incorrect subsequent spelling hollandiae.	en	Cupello, Mario, Bouchard, Patrice, Hart, Maximillian, Barclay, Maxwell V. L. (2025): The nomenclature of the Australasian dung beetle genera Mentophilus Castelnau, 1840 and Tesserodon Hope, 1837 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae). Zootaxa 5659 (4): 483-510, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2
8E4B87A7FFCE0379FF4C41F346E6E3D7.taxon	materials_examined	Name-bearing type: Male holotype by inferred monotypy, in the Hope Entomological Collections, Oxford University Museum of Natural History, Oxford, UK (Westwood 1842, 1845; Matthews 1974). Type locality: Swan River area, in southwest Western Australia (Westwood 1842, 1845; Matthews 1974).	en	Cupello, Mario, Bouchard, Patrice, Hart, Maximillian, Barclay, Maxwell V. L. (2025): The nomenclature of the Australasian dung beetle genera Mentophilus Castelnau, 1840 and Tesserodon Hope, 1837 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae). Zootaxa 5659 (4): 483-510, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2
8E4B87A7FFCE0379FF4C41F346E6E3D7.taxon	discussion	Remarks: Even though Westwood (1842) did not mention how many specimens he saw for the original description, Matthews (1974) treated the only type specimen he found in the Oxford Museum as the holotype. We accept this interpretation. The type locality was originally called into question by Westwood (1842), who cited it as “ New Holland. Swan River? ”; later, he reemphasized his doubts (Westwood 1845). Matthews (1974), however, was more confident about the accuracy of the record, as the only other specimen with a precise location known to him (and, to this day, ever recorded in the literature) came from the same general area, King George Sound, Albany, Western Australia. We follow him.	en	Cupello, Mario, Bouchard, Patrice, Hart, Maximillian, Barclay, Maxwell V. L. (2025): The nomenclature of the Australasian dung beetle genera Mentophilus Castelnau, 1840 and Tesserodon Hope, 1837 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae). Zootaxa 5659 (4): 483-510, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2
8E4B87A7FFCE0379FF4C41F346E6E3D7.taxon	distribution	Distribution: Southwestern tip of Western Australia (Matthews 1974).	en	Cupello, Mario, Bouchard, Patrice, Hart, Maximillian, Barclay, Maxwell V. L. (2025): The nomenclature of the Australasian dung beetle genera Mentophilus Castelnau, 1840 and Tesserodon Hope, 1837 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae). Zootaxa 5659 (4): 483-510, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2
8E4B87A7FFCE0379FF4C47DF47AAE172.taxon	materials_examined	Name-bearing type: Male holotype by original designation in the Queensland Museum, Brisbane, Australia (Storey 1991). See Storey (1991) for information on the 42 paratypes. Type locality: In the Wildman River area along Arnhem Highway (approximately at 12 ° 49 ’ 21.5 ” S, 132 ° 01 ’ 22.0 ” E), Northern Territory, Australia (Storey 1991).	en	Cupello, Mario, Bouchard, Patrice, Hart, Maximillian, Barclay, Maxwell V. L. (2025): The nomenclature of the Australasian dung beetle genera Mentophilus Castelnau, 1840 and Tesserodon Hope, 1837 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae). Zootaxa 5659 (4): 483-510, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2
8E4B87A7FFCE0379FF4C47DF47AAE172.taxon	distribution	Distribution: Northwestern coast of the Northern Territory, between Darwin and the Wildman River crossing on the Arnhem Highway (Storey 1991; Atlas of Living Australia 2024). The New South Wales record indicated in the Atlas of Living Australia (2024) is doubtless incorrect.	en	Cupello, Mario, Bouchard, Patrice, Hart, Maximillian, Barclay, Maxwell V. L. (2025): The nomenclature of the Australasian dung beetle genera Mentophilus Castelnau, 1840 and Tesserodon Hope, 1837 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae). Zootaxa 5659 (4): 483-510, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2
8E4B87A7FFCE0379FF4C457945B7E0E7.taxon	materials_examined	Name-bearing type: Male holotype by original designation in the Australian National Insect Collection, CSIRO, Canberra, Australia (Storey 1991). See Storey (1991) for information on the 14 paratypes. Type locality: about 42 km northwest of Cooktown (15 ° 09 ’ 36.0 ” S 144 ° 59 ’ 00.0 ” E), in northeastern Queensland, Australia (originally stated as “ 15.16 ° S 144 ° 50 ’ E, 14 km W by N of Hopevale Mission, NE Qld ”, Storey 1991).	en	Cupello, Mario, Bouchard, Patrice, Hart, Maximillian, Barclay, Maxwell V. L. (2025): The nomenclature of the Australasian dung beetle genera Mentophilus Castelnau, 1840 and Tesserodon Hope, 1837 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae). Zootaxa 5659 (4): 483-510, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2
8E4B87A7FFCE0379FF4C457945B7E0E7.taxon	distribution	Distribution: Known only from northeastern Queensland, Australia (Storey 1991; Atlas of Living Australia 2024).	en	Cupello, Mario, Bouchard, Patrice, Hart, Maximillian, Barclay, Maxwell V. L. (2025): The nomenclature of the Australasian dung beetle genera Mentophilus Castelnau, 1840 and Tesserodon Hope, 1837 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae). Zootaxa 5659 (4): 483-510, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2
8E4B87A7FFD10366FF4C439745B7E5B5.taxon	materials_examined	Name-bearing type: Male holotype by monotypy in the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale Giacomo Doria, Genoa, Italy (Matthews 1974; Storey 1991; Alberto Ballerio, personal communication to MC, 22 March 2025). Type locality: Somerset, Cape York, Queensland, Australia (Van Lansberge 1885; Matthews 1974; Storey 1991).	en	Cupello, Mario, Bouchard, Patrice, Hart, Maximillian, Barclay, Maxwell V. L. (2025): The nomenclature of the Australasian dung beetle genera Mentophilus Castelnau, 1840 and Tesserodon Hope, 1837 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae). Zootaxa 5659 (4): 483-510, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2
8E4B87A7FFD10366FF4C439745B7E5B5.taxon	discussion	Remarks: Even though Van Lansberge (1885) mentioned no numbers, both Matthews (1974) and Storey (1991) assumed the type series to be composed of a single specimen, the holotype by monotypy. Since the content of Van Lansberge’s description is not inconsistent with such a possibility — e. g., it states a precise figure for body size, “ Long. 8 millim. ” — we do not dispute this interpretation. This material, according to Van Lansberge, was collected in Somerset, at the northernmost tip of Cape York, by Luigi d’Albertis. Horn et al. (1990 a) do not inform the whereabouts of the Australian material gathered by d’Albertis, but it is fair to assume it was deposited in the Genoa Museum like the specimens from the Malay Archipelago were said to have been by the authors. This was Matthews’ assumption too; unfortunately, however, he did not manage to see the gestroi holotype in person. Storey (1991) did and confirmed it to be in Genoa; nevertheless, he realized that Matthews had misidentified the species in his Australian scarabaeine treatise: gestroi sensu Matthews was a new species Storey described as T. erratum, whereas the real gestroi had not been seen by Matthews. According to Storey, the gestroi holotype was collected by d’Albertis in January 1875, presumably based on label information.	en	Cupello, Mario, Bouchard, Patrice, Hart, Maximillian, Barclay, Maxwell V. L. (2025): The nomenclature of the Australasian dung beetle genera Mentophilus Castelnau, 1840 and Tesserodon Hope, 1837 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae). Zootaxa 5659 (4): 483-510, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2
8E4B87A7FFD10366FF4C439745B7E5B5.taxon	distribution	Distribution: Northern Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, Australia (Storey 1991; Atlas of Living Australia 2024).	en	Cupello, Mario, Bouchard, Patrice, Hart, Maximillian, Barclay, Maxwell V. L. (2025): The nomenclature of the Australasian dung beetle genera Mentophilus Castelnau, 1840 and Tesserodon Hope, 1837 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae). Zootaxa 5659 (4): 483-510, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2
8E4B87A7FFD10366FF4C40404777E3BF.taxon	materials_examined	Name-bearing type: Female holotype by original designation in the Australian National Insect Collection, CSIRO, Canberra, Australia (Matthews 1974; Storey 1991). See Matthews (1974) for information on the three paratypes. Type locality: Uluru (also known as Ayers Rock), southern Northern Territory, Australia (Matthews 1974; Storey 1991).	en	Cupello, Mario, Bouchard, Patrice, Hart, Maximillian, Barclay, Maxwell V. L. (2025): The nomenclature of the Australasian dung beetle genera Mentophilus Castelnau, 1840 and Tesserodon Hope, 1837 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae). Zootaxa 5659 (4): 483-510, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2
8E4B87A7FFD10366FF4C40404777E3BF.taxon	discussion	Remarks: Storey (1991) listed the holotype in his material examined as a male, even though simultaneously remarking, correctly, that Matthews, who also examined the specimen, had had access only to females of the species. Indeed, Matthews (1974) sexed the holotype as a female, and this is accepted here. Storey’s incorrect sexing was likely a bookkeeping error.	en	Cupello, Mario, Bouchard, Patrice, Hart, Maximillian, Barclay, Maxwell V. L. (2025): The nomenclature of the Australasian dung beetle genera Mentophilus Castelnau, 1840 and Tesserodon Hope, 1837 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae). Zootaxa 5659 (4): 483-510, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2
8E4B87A7FFD10366FF4C40404777E3BF.taxon	distribution	Distribution: From the northwestern coast of Western Australia to the southern region of the state and central Northern Territory, Australia (Matthews 1974; Storey 1991). The Atlas of Living Australia (2024) records from South Australia need confirmation.	en	Cupello, Mario, Bouchard, Patrice, Hart, Maximillian, Barclay, Maxwell V. L. (2025): The nomenclature of the Australasian dung beetle genera Mentophilus Castelnau, 1840 and Tesserodon Hope, 1837 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae). Zootaxa 5659 (4): 483-510, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2
8E4B87A7FFD10366FF4C4637412BE143.taxon	materials_examined	Name-bearing type: Male holotype by original designation in the Queensland Museum, Brisbane, Australia (Storey 1991). See Storey (1991) for information on the 33 paratypes. Type locality: Hann Tableland National Park, 13 km WNW of Mareeba, northeastern Queensland, Australia (Storey 1991).	en	Cupello, Mario, Bouchard, Patrice, Hart, Maximillian, Barclay, Maxwell V. L. (2025): The nomenclature of the Australasian dung beetle genera Mentophilus Castelnau, 1840 and Tesserodon Hope, 1837 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae). Zootaxa 5659 (4): 483-510, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2
8E4B87A7FFD10366FF4C4637412BE143.taxon	distribution	Distribution: Western edge of Atherton Tableland, Queensland, Australia (Storey 1991).	en	Cupello, Mario, Bouchard, Patrice, Hart, Maximillian, Barclay, Maxwell V. L. (2025): The nomenclature of the Australasian dung beetle genera Mentophilus Castelnau, 1840 and Tesserodon Hope, 1837 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae). Zootaxa 5659 (4): 483-510, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2
8E4B87A7FFD10366FF4C456B4182E017.taxon	materials_examined	Name-bearing type: Male holotype by original designation in the Queensland Museum, Brisbane, Australia (Storey 1991). See Storey (1991) for information on the five paratypes. Type locality: 90 km SE of Charters Towers, in northeastern Queensland (Storey 1991).	en	Cupello, Mario, Bouchard, Patrice, Hart, Maximillian, Barclay, Maxwell V. L. (2025): The nomenclature of the Australasian dung beetle genera Mentophilus Castelnau, 1840 and Tesserodon Hope, 1837 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae). Zootaxa 5659 (4): 483-510, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2
8E4B87A7FFD10366FF4C456B4182E017.taxon	distribution	Distribution: Northeastern Queensland, Australia (Storey 1991; Atlas Living of Australia 2024).	en	Cupello, Mario, Bouchard, Patrice, Hart, Maximillian, Barclay, Maxwell V. L. (2025): The nomenclature of the Australasian dung beetle genera Mentophilus Castelnau, 1840 and Tesserodon Hope, 1837 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae). Zootaxa 5659 (4): 483-510, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2
8E4B87A7FFD00367FF4C43974419E56D.taxon	materials_examined	Name-bearing type: Male holotype by original designation in the South Australian Museum, Adelaide, Australia (Lea 1923; Matthews 1974). Type locality: Groote Eylandt Island, off the eastern coast of the Northern Territory, Australia (Lea 1923; Matthews 1974).	en	Cupello, Mario, Bouchard, Patrice, Hart, Maximillian, Barclay, Maxwell V. L. (2025): The nomenclature of the Australasian dung beetle genera Mentophilus Castelnau, 1840 and Tesserodon Hope, 1837 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae). Zootaxa 5659 (4): 483-510, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2
8E4B87A7FFD00367FF4C43974419E56D.taxon	discussion	Remarks: Lea (1923) clearly examined more than one specimen for the original description, as he described both sexes and gave a length range (“ Length, 5.5 – 6 mm ”). We have a holotype by original designation, however, instead of a series of syntypes, because he indicated one of these specimens as the “ Type ”, in the singular, the specimen under number “ I. 15426 ”, so fulfilling the requirements for original holotype designation as established by Article 73.1.1. Matthews (1974) found the specimen in the South Australian Museum, to which Lea’s collection had been bequeathed following his death in 1932 (Horn et al. 1990 b).	en	Cupello, Mario, Bouchard, Patrice, Hart, Maximillian, Barclay, Maxwell V. L. (2025): The nomenclature of the Australasian dung beetle genera Mentophilus Castelnau, 1840 and Tesserodon Hope, 1837 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae). Zootaxa 5659 (4): 483-510, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2
8E4B87A7FFD00367FF4C43974419E56D.taxon	distribution	Distribution: Northern Northern Territory, Australia (Lea 1923; Matthews 1974; Storey 1991; Atlas of Living Australia 2024).	en	Cupello, Mario, Bouchard, Patrice, Hart, Maximillian, Barclay, Maxwell V. L. (2025): The nomenclature of the Australasian dung beetle genera Mentophilus Castelnau, 1840 and Tesserodon Hope, 1837 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae). Zootaxa 5659 (4): 483-510, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2
8E4B87A7FFD00367FF4C4188460EE01F.taxon	materials_examined	Name-bearing type: Unsexed holotype by inferred monotypy in the Natural History Museum, London, UK, ex Sir Joseph Banks collection (Fabricius 1775; Matthews 1974; MC’s personal observation, 2016) (Fig. 2, 3 A). Type locality: Endeavour River area, Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, Australia (Fabricius 1775; Matthews 1974).	en	Cupello, Mario, Bouchard, Patrice, Hart, Maximillian, Barclay, Maxwell V. L. (2025): The nomenclature of the Australasian dung beetle genera Mentophilus Castelnau, 1840 and Tesserodon Hope, 1837 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae). Zootaxa 5659 (4): 483-510, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2
8E4B87A7FFD00367FF4C4188460EE01F.taxon	discussion	Remarks: Incorrect subsequent spelling Scarabaeus hollandiae established by Fabricius (1781) adopted by most authors until being rejected by Matthews (1974). Under Article 11.9.5 and 32.5.2.2 of the Code, the original two-word spelling was justifiably emended to novaehollandiae by Matthews (1974) and adopted as valid. Our text above provides more details about this. Matthews (1974) treated the sole specimen he found in the Joseph Banks collection at the London Museum (Fig. 2, 3 A) as the holotype of novaehollandiae, implicitly by monotypy. While Fabricius (1775) mentioned no number of specimens examined, his description does not preclude the possibility of him having examined only one as Matthews assumed. For this reason, we do not challenge Matthews’s interpretation. The identity of the type locality, originally indicated simply as Australia (“ nova Hollandia ”) by Fabricius, is, following Matthews (1974), narrowed down to the region near the mouth of the Endeavour River, in the state of Queensland, because, as explained in the text, this was the only place within the range of the species visited by Banks and the rest of the Endeavour crew, the collectors of the type series.	en	Cupello, Mario, Bouchard, Patrice, Hart, Maximillian, Barclay, Maxwell V. L. (2025): The nomenclature of the Australasian dung beetle genera Mentophilus Castelnau, 1840 and Tesserodon Hope, 1837 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae). Zootaxa 5659 (4): 483-510, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2
8E4B87A7FFD00367FF4C4188460EE01F.taxon	materials_examined	Name-bearing type: Unsexed holotype by inferred monotypy in the Hope Entomological Collections, Oxford University Museum of Natural History, Oxford, UK (Matthews 1974). Type locality: Australia (Hope 1842).	en	Cupello, Mario, Bouchard, Patrice, Hart, Maximillian, Barclay, Maxwell V. L. (2025): The nomenclature of the Australasian dung beetle genera Mentophilus Castelnau, 1840 and Tesserodon Hope, 1837 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae). Zootaxa 5659 (4): 483-510, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2
8E4B87A7FFD00367FF4C4188460EE01F.taxon	discussion	Remarks: Hope (1842) did not state where his type material was deposited, but, as widely known for his specimens in general (e. g., Smith 1986; Horn et al. 1990 a), this must have been in the Oxford Museum collection now bearing his name. Matthews (1974) treated a specimen he found there under “ no. 447 ” as the holotype, inferring monotypy. Since Hope’s (1842) description is silent as to the number of specimens examined, this is plausible, so we do not dispute Matthews’s interpretation. On the other hand, the restricted type locality mentioned by him (and Westwood 1842, 1845), Port Essington, in the Northern Territory, is not accepted. Port Essington was a failed British settlement on the northern coast of Australia that existed for about a decade during the late 1830 s and the 1840 s. It appears that some of the settlers sent back to Britain a few beetle specimens, which were then studied by Hope for his 1842 paper titled “ Observations on the Coleoptera of Port Essington, in Australia ”. It was this title that likely induced Matthews to believe that the piceus type originated from Port Essington. However, in the paragraph immediately preceding the T. piceus description, Hope (1842) specified that Port Essington was the locality only for his new species of Onthophagus Latreille, 1802 and, presumably, the Bolboceras Kirby, 1818 introduced earlier in his paper. All the species following the Onthophagus, including, as the first one described, T. piceus, originated “ from other parts of New Holland ”. So, while we are not able to pinpoint an exact locality for the type material, if one is to follow Hope, the type locality is certainly not Port Essington. But we recognize that, instead of being misled by the title as we stated above, Matthews (1974) may have concluded the Oxford Museum specimen came from Port Essington based on a label pinned to it; if that was the case, and only a reexamination of the specimen can confirm, the mistake was Hope’s.	en	Cupello, Mario, Bouchard, Patrice, Hart, Maximillian, Barclay, Maxwell V. L. (2025): The nomenclature of the Australasian dung beetle genera Mentophilus Castelnau, 1840 and Tesserodon Hope, 1837 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae). Zootaxa 5659 (4): 483-510, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2
8E4B87A7FFD00367FF4C4188460EE01F.taxon	distribution	Distribution: From Broome, in Western Australia, to Carnarvon National Park, in central Queensland, Australia (Matthews 1974; Storey 1991; Atlas of Living Australia 2024).	en	Cupello, Mario, Bouchard, Patrice, Hart, Maximillian, Barclay, Maxwell V. L. (2025): The nomenclature of the Australasian dung beetle genera Mentophilus Castelnau, 1840 and Tesserodon Hope, 1837 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae). Zootaxa 5659 (4): 483-510, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2
8E4B87A7FFD00364FF4C4497460EE660.taxon	materials_examined	Name-bearing type: Male holotype by original designation in the South Australian Museum, Adelaide, Australia (Matthews 1974). See Matthews (1974) for information on the 37 paratypes. Type locality: Taillefer Isthmus, Péron Peninsula near Nanga, Western Australia, Australia (Matthews 1974).	en	Cupello, Mario, Bouchard, Patrice, Hart, Maximillian, Barclay, Maxwell V. L. (2025): The nomenclature of the Australasian dung beetle genera Mentophilus Castelnau, 1840 and Tesserodon Hope, 1837 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae). Zootaxa 5659 (4): 483-510, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2
8E4B87A7FFD00364FF4C4497460EE660.taxon	distribution	Distribution: From the North West Cape south to the Burma Road Nature Reserve, on the coast of Western Australia (Matthews 1974; Storey 1991; Atlas of Living Australia 2024).	en	Cupello, Mario, Bouchard, Patrice, Hart, Maximillian, Barclay, Maxwell V. L. (2025): The nomenclature of the Australasian dung beetle genera Mentophilus Castelnau, 1840 and Tesserodon Hope, 1837 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae). Zootaxa 5659 (4): 483-510, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2
8E4B87A7FFD30364FF4C428B4114E5EA.taxon	materials_examined	Name-bearing type: Female holotype by original designation in the Queensland Museum, Brisbane, Australia (Storey 1991). One paratype in the Australian National Insect Collection, CSIRO, Canberra, Australia (Storey 1991). Type locality: “ 10 km E Heathlands Airstrip, CYP ” (Heathlands Airport, in Shelburne?), Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, Australia (Storey 1991).	en	Cupello, Mario, Bouchard, Patrice, Hart, Maximillian, Barclay, Maxwell V. L. (2025): The nomenclature of the Australasian dung beetle genera Mentophilus Castelnau, 1840 and Tesserodon Hope, 1837 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae). Zootaxa 5659 (4): 483-510, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2
8E4B87A7FFD30364FF4C428B4114E5EA.taxon	distribution	Distribution: Known only from two localities, one in the Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, the other near Oenpelli, in north Northern Territory, Australia (Storey 1991; Atlas of Living Australia 2024).	en	Cupello, Mario, Bouchard, Patrice, Hart, Maximillian, Barclay, Maxwell V. L. (2025): The nomenclature of the Australasian dung beetle genera Mentophilus Castelnau, 1840 and Tesserodon Hope, 1837 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae). Zootaxa 5659 (4): 483-510, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2
8E4B87A7FFD30364FF4C40024690E352.taxon	materials_examined	Name-bearing type: Male holotype by original designation in the Western Australian Museum, Perth, Australia (Matthews 1974; Koch 1980). No paratypes. Type locality: Barrow Island, off the coast of the Pilbara region, in Western Australia, Australia (Matthews 1974; Koch 1980).	en	Cupello, Mario, Bouchard, Patrice, Hart, Maximillian, Barclay, Maxwell V. L. (2025): The nomenclature of the Australasian dung beetle genera Mentophilus Castelnau, 1840 and Tesserodon Hope, 1837 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae). Zootaxa 5659 (4): 483-510, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2
8E4B87A7FFD30364FF4C40024690E352.taxon	distribution	Distribution: Northwestern coast of Western Australia, from Barrow Island south to the region north of Carnarvon, Australia (Matthews 1974; Storey 1991; Atlas of Living Australia 2024).	en	Cupello, Mario, Bouchard, Patrice, Hart, Maximillian, Barclay, Maxwell V. L. (2025): The nomenclature of the Australasian dung beetle genera Mentophilus Castelnau, 1840 and Tesserodon Hope, 1837 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae). Zootaxa 5659 (4): 483-510, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2
8E4B87A7FFD30364FF4C475A4106E03E.taxon	materials_examined	Name-bearing type: Female holotype by inferred monotypy in the Australian National Insect Collection, CSIRO, Canberra, Australia, on permanent loan from the now-defunct Macleay Museum, University of Sydney (Matthews 1974; Britton & Stanbury 1982; Storey 1991; Cassis & Weir 1992). Type locality: Originally stated to be “ King’s Sound and its vicinity ”, on the northern coast of Western Australia, Australia (Macleay 1888 b) and accepted as King Sound (modern spelling) by subsequent writers (Matthews 1974; Britton & Stanbury 1982; Storey 1991; Cassis & Weir 1992), but see remarks.	en	Cupello, Mario, Bouchard, Patrice, Hart, Maximillian, Barclay, Maxwell V. L. (2025): The nomenclature of the Australasian dung beetle genera Mentophilus Castelnau, 1840 and Tesserodon Hope, 1837 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae). Zootaxa 5659 (4): 483-510, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2
8E4B87A7FFD30364FF4C475A4106E03E.taxon	discussion	Remarks: Matthews (1974), Britton & Stanbury (1982), Storey (1991), and Cassis & Weir (1992) all treated the sole specimen standing by the name Tessarodon variolosus in the Macleay collection as the holotype, inferring monotypy. While Macleay’s (1888 b) description does not necessarily imply the examination of a single specimen, neither does it preclude this possibility. As such, we do not challenge these authors’ interpretation. The precise locality where the holotype was collected is still dubious. Macleay (1888 a, b) did not provide the provenance for the vast majority of the almost 200 species he described in his paper individually, but stated in the title that they were from “ King’s Sound and its vicinity ”, and explained in the introduction that they had been collected by Walter Wilson Froggatt (1858 – 1937) during his 1887 – 1888 explorations of the region. King Sound is a gulf on the northern coast of Western Australia and represents one the few Western Australia records for T. variolosus. However, Monteith & Rossini (2017) have shown that Froggatt actually spent most of his time in the region farther inland than the shores of King Sound as “ its vicinities ” would imply, in the locality modernly called Windjana Gorge, about 120 km east of King Sound. According to Monteith & Rossini’s investigations, every Froggatt specimen labeled as “ Barrier Range ” (modern Napier Range, where Windjana Gorge is located) originates from Windjana Gorge. Unfortunately, the variolosus holotype’s labels have never been transcribed in the literature, and the CSIRO insect collection is currently inaccessible due to relocation, so we cannot confirm whether they state “ Barrier Range ” or something else. The question will remain open until the holotype can be re-accessed and its labels checked.	en	Cupello, Mario, Bouchard, Patrice, Hart, Maximillian, Barclay, Maxwell V. L. (2025): The nomenclature of the Australasian dung beetle genera Mentophilus Castelnau, 1840 and Tesserodon Hope, 1837 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae). Zootaxa 5659 (4): 483-510, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2
8E4B87A7FFD30364FF4C475A4106E03E.taxon	distribution	Distribution: The north of the Northern Territory and of Western Australia (Matthews 1974; Storey 1991). The Atlas of Living Australia (2024) record from South Australia is most likely incorrect.	en	Cupello, Mario, Bouchard, Patrice, Hart, Maximillian, Barclay, Maxwell V. L. (2025): The nomenclature of the Australasian dung beetle genera Mentophilus Castelnau, 1840 and Tesserodon Hope, 1837 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae). Zootaxa 5659 (4): 483-510, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.2
