Zosterops novae guineae Salvadori, 1878

Johannessen, Lars Erik & Lifjeld, Jan T., 2022, Type specimens of birds in the Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, Norway, Zootaxa 5150 (4), pp. 451-486 : 469-470

Zosterops novae guineae Salvadori, 1878

Annali del Museo civico di Storia naturale di Genova, 1878 (12): 341.

Current name: Zosterops novaeguineae novaeguineae Salvadori, 1878 .

Syntype NHMO-BI-86649 [I019616]; Study skin; F; Antonie Augustus Bruijn (b), June 1874; Indonesia: Arfak [Arfak Mountains]; 1.083° S 133.967° E ; 16a.

Remarks: This specimen was received from Genoa in 1888 and is indicated as ‘tipico’ in the accompanying list (see discussion of Melanocharis chloroptera above). The original label is not present, only a replacement label that has been added at NHMO ( Figure 6c ). Salvadori (1878) did not specify an exact number of specimens in his original publication, but in Salvadori (1881), he listed eight specimens (a–h) as types of the species. Based on the information available on the current label, the NHMO specimen corresponds to specimen b. Salvadori spelled the specific epithet in two words, ‘ novae guineae’, in both of the mentioned publications, but in accordance with article 32.5.2.2 of the Code ( International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature 1999) it has later been changed to the current ‘novaeguineae’.

Three other syntypes are in MSNG (C.E. 11526–11528; Arbocco et al. 1979), corresponding to specimens e, g and h in Salvadori (1881), and in MRSN specimen a is registered as MZUT Av4174 ( Aimassi et al. 2020; Giorgio Aimassi, pers. comm.).

A fifth specimen is in RMNH (RMNH 90782, collected by Bruijn in Arfak, 30 January 1876; Dekker & Quaisser 2006). This was not listed by Salvadori (1881), but as Salvadori in his original description wrote that he had examined several specimens collected by Beccari and Bruijn in the Arfak mountains, also this RMNH specimen must be considered part of the type series.

Figures

FIGURE 6. Labels of type specimens in the NHMO Bird Collection described by T. Salvadori. a) Ptilotis erythropleura NHMO-BI-86778 (collector’s label); b) Melanocharis chloroptera NHMO-BI-61863 (NHMO label); c) Zosterops novae guineae NHMO-BI-86649 (NHMO label); d) Dicaeum misoriense NHMO-BI-61856 (collector’s label).