Sylvia flava Meyen, 1834a : 79

Mlíkovský, Jiří & Frahnert, Sylke, 2017, Type specimens and type localities of birds (Aves) collected during F. J. F. Meyen’s circumnavigation in 1830 – 1832, Zootaxa 4250 (1), pp. 1-22 : 13-14

Sylvia flava Meyen, 1834a: 79 .

Now: Zosterops meyeni meyeni Bonaparte, 1850 . See Hartlaub (1865: 17), Gadow (1884: 180), Finsch (1901: 22).

Holotype: ZMB 4554 ( Lichtenstein 1832, Nr. 29 sub “ Sylvia flava ”), skin, ♀, collected by Meyen in “ October ” [= 5 October 1831; Meyen 1835: 266] in “ Manila ” [= the Jalajala Peninsula, Luzon, Philippines; see below].

Type locality. M.H.C. Lichtenstein (1832) and Meyen (1834a: 79) said that the holotype was collected at “ Manila ”. In his travel report, Meyen (1835: 266) specified that he collected the bird in lowland forest between “ Hali-Hali ” [= Jalajala ] and “ Monte Sembrano ” [= Mount Sembrano ]. We thus ascertain the type locality as the Jalajala Peninsula between the village of Jalajala [14.35°N, 121.32°E] and Mount Sembrano [14.39°N, 121.37°E], southern Luzon, Philippines.

Remarks. In the genus Zosterops Vigors & Horsfield, 1827 , Sylvia flava Meyen, 1834a is a junior secondary homonym of Dicaeum flavum Kittlitz (1833: 15, pl. 19) [= Zosterops meyeni Bonaparte, 1850 ] and of Dicaeum flavum Horsfield (1821: 170) [= Zosterops flavus ( Horsfield, 1821) ]. Bonaparte (1850: 398) introduced a new name for it, Zosterops meyeni , in the following way: “ Dicaeum flavum ? Meyen. ( Zosterops meyeni, Bp. ) Kittl. Kupf. Vög. t. 19.2. ex Ins. Philipp. ” (his bold and italics). After consulting formatting in Bonaparte’s Conspectus Generum Avium (1850), we interpret this arrangement as meaning that Bonaparte presumed flava Meyen, 1834 and flavum Kittlitz, 1832 were, question mark notwithstanding: (1) conspecific, (2) both allotted to the genus Dicaeum prior to his revision in the Conspectus, and (3) both junior homonyms of Dicaeum flavum Horsfield, 1821 in Zosterops that had to be replaced with a new name, meyeni . Replacing two junior homonyms with a single common name in one nomenclatural act is most unusual and creates a problem in typification. The appropriate solution appears to be to treat the types of Dicaeum flavum Kittlitz, 1832 and Sylvia flava Meyen, 1834 as syntypes of Zosterops meyeni ( ICZN 1999: Article 72.7). Should flavum Kittlitz and flava Meyen ever be separated taxonomically, application of meyeni Bonaparte can then be resolved by lectotypification. Specimen ZMB 4554 is thus the holotype of Sylvia flava Meyen and a syntype of Zosterops meyeni Bonaparte. This confirms that the lowland Zosterops of Luzon and adjacent islands should bear the name Zosterops meyeni meyeni Bonaparte, 1850 (see Hartlaub 1865: 17; Gadow 1884: 180; Finsch 1901: 22; van Balen 2008: 446).