Micrablepharus maximiliani (Reinhardt & Lutken, 1862)

Myers, Charles W., Rodrigues, Miguel Trefaut & Vanzolini, Paulo E., 2011, Status of Early 19 th-Century Names Authored in Parallel by Wied and Schinz for South American Reptiles and Amphibians, with Designations of Three Nomina Protecta, American Museum Novitates 2011 (3714), pp. 1-24 : 12-13

Micrablepharus maximiliani (Reinhardt and Lütken, “1861” [1862])

As explained above, Scincus cyanurus Schinz, 1822 , is the senior name (Wied’s “ Gymnophthalmus quadrilineatus ” was a misidentification). To our knowledge, Scincus cyanurus Schinz “has not been used as a valid name after 1899” ( ICZN, 1999: art. 23.9.1.1). The junior name Gymnophthalmus maximiliani Reinhardt and Lütken , “1861” [1862]—known since 1885 as Micrablepharus maximiliani (Reinhardt and Lütken, “1861” [1862])—has been used as a “presumed valid name, in at least 25 works, published by at least 10 authors in the immediately preceding 50 years and encompassing a span of not less than 10 years” ( ICZN, 1999: art. 23.9.1.2).

The following 25 references meet the criteria quoted above: Ávila-Pires, 1995; Castoe et al., 2004; Cunha, 1961; Freire, 1996; Mesquita et al., 2006; Moreira et al., 2009; Nogueira et al., 2009; Pellegrino et al., 2001; Peters and Donoso-Barros, 1970; Presch, 1980; Rodrigues, 1996, 2003; Rodrigues et al., 2005, 2007; Shepard, 2007; Teixeira et al., 1999; Vanzolini, 1977 b, 1981, 2003; Vanzolini and Carvalho, 1991; Vanzolini et al., 1980; Vitt, 1991b; Werneck and Colli, 2006; Williams and Vanzolini, 1980; Yonenaga-Yassuda and Rodrigues, 1999.

Micrablepharus maximiliani (Reinhardt and Lütken, “1861” [1862]), the younger but valid name for the species, is here designated as a nomen protectum. It has precedence over the senior name Scincus cyanurus Schinz, 1822 , which is here qualified as a nomen oblitum, and over the unavailable name Gymnophthalmus quadrilineatus sensu Wied, 1825 (non Linnaeus nec sensu Merrem), which was a misidentification in the sense of the Code ( ICZN 1999: art. 49).

Qualifying Scincus cyanurus Schinz, 1822 , as a nomen oblitum also solves the problem of homonymy with the later-named Scincus cyanurus Lesson, 1826 —a wide-spread Pacific skink currently known as Emoia cyanura (Lesson) (see p. 8).