Emberiza rufibarba Gourcy-Droitaumont

Mlíkovský, Jiří & Frahnert, Sylke, 2011, Type specimens and type localities of birds collected during the Hemprich and Ehrenberg expedition to Lebanon in 1824, Zootaxa 2990, pp. 1-29 : 20-21

Emberiza rufibarba Gourcy-Droitaumont

Emberiza rufibarba Lichtenstein, 1825 [Manuscript name.]

E[mberiza] rufibarba “Hemprich” C. L. Brehm, 1828: col. 1278 [Nomen nudum; no description or indication.] Emberiza rufibarba Gourcy-Droitaumont, 1829 : col. 724.

Now. Emberiza caesia Cretzschmar, 1826 . See Cabanis (1850: 129), Hartert (1904: 182).

Type series. Gourcy-Droitaumont (1829) based this species (in the sense of the ICZN 1999; Gourcy-Droitaumont was not aware that he is describing a new species) on a bird captured in April 1827 “only three hours from Wien” (col. 724), which he then kept as a cage bird, and on an unknown number (but plural was used) of birds in the NHMW (col. 725). The NHMW possessed two relevant specimens (E. Bauernfeind in litt. 2010), which were most probably collected by Hemprich and Ehrenberg and are listed below. Marschall and Pelzeln (1882: 87) reported that the caged bird was given to the NHMW after its death, but the specimen was never in the NHMW (E. Bauerfeind in litt. 2010) and its whereabouts are unknown.

Syntype. NHMW 63.49842.762 (Acquisition Nr. 1826/IV /32), relaxed mount, 3, collected in “Arabia” [= Beirut, Lebanon], on an unknown date [= 18 May–9 June or 3–6 August 1824], purchased from the ZMB in July 1826 sub Emberiza rufibarba Lichtenstein (E. Bauernfeind, in litt. 2010).

Syntype. NHMW 42.762 (Acquisition Nr. 1826/I/17), mount, 3, collected on an unknown date [= 18 May–9 June or 3–6 August 1824] in “ Syria ” [= Beirut, Lebanon], purchased from the ZMB in July 1826 sub Emberiza variegata Hemprich (E. Bauernfeind, in litt 2010).

Type locality. The type locality consists at least of Beirut, Lebanon (the “Syrian” specimen; see Lichtenstein 1825, Nr. 348–387), and vicinity of Wien, Austria (the “cage” bird). The locality “Arabia” seems to be Lichtenstein’s error for “ Syria ”. If so, the latter bird was also collected at Beirut.

Remarks. Hemprich and Ehrenberg supplied 40 specimens from Lebanon ( Lichtenstein 1825, Nr. 348–387), of which none have survived in the ZMB (ZMB 5938–46 and ZMB 5948–49; all lost). The species-group name rufibarba was usually attributed to Nordmann (1835) or to Hemprich and/or Ehrenberg in Nordmann (1835) (e.g. Cabanis 1850: 129, Giebel 1875: 90, 97, Sharpe 1888: 536, Hartert 1904: 182), but we found that it was first validly published in a manner required by the ICZN (1999) by Gourcy-Droitaumont (1829), who is thus its author.