Nubotis, Collar & Kirwan, 2023

Collar, Nigel J. & Kirwan, Guy M., 2023, The generic position of the Nubian Bustard Neotis nuba (Cretzschmar, 1826) (Aves: Otididae), Zootaxa 5315 (2), pp. 122-130 : 127

Nubotis , gen. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:AB1561DD-1FF0-4C9D-9294-34FBC3ACDF7D

Type species. Otis nuba Cretzschmar, 1826 (currently Neotis nuba ).

Included species. Nubotis nuba ( Cretzschmar, 1826) , new combination.

Diagnosis. Characters unique to the new genus among bustards are (1) a long broad sandy-rufous stripe on the central crown, (2) a forked tail involving somewhat specialised outer rectrices, and (3) a display in which the male walks with the tail-fork raised high and wing-tips resting between the fork.

Etymology and remarks. The name Nubotis combines the roots nuba (ancient Nubia, in the Nile Valley in the south of Egypt and north of Sudan), the region in which the species was first found, hence its specific name, with otis, from the Greek ωτις ôtis, a bustard. The gender is feminine. The name Nubotis , which we independently coined, proves to have been used by J. Gaudin in an online commentary at https://www.birdforum.net/threads/mytaxonomic-predictions.426076/page-7, posted in mid-2022 and already listed in https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/ key-to-scientific-names/search?q= Otis . However, this name was introduced without fulfilling the requirements of publication (presumably deliberately on the part of the commentator) including registration in the Official Register of Zoological Nomenclature (ZooBank) (Art 8.5.3 and 11.1), lacking any formal description or definition to differentiate the taxon (Art. 13.1.1) or, alternatively, a bibliographic reference to a prior published statement of such (Art. 13.1.2), and self-evidently failing to constitute a published work under the revised Art. 9 (ICZN 1999, 2012). Furthermore, being part of a list of predictions, it might be judged to fail a test of availability due to being a conditional proposal (Art. 15.1).