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carabayae, atacamensis and another rex (1 Viewer)

Taphrospilus

Taphrospilus

Well-known member
Even if the key is shut down |=(| I have at least this three still for discussions.

carabayae was in the not longer alive key

Sierra de Carabaya, Puno, Peru.
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Troglodytes aedon carabayae p. 296. No question it can be the Sierra de Carabaya but why not the whole Carabaya Province?

atacamensis was in the not longer alive key

San Pedro de Atacama, Chile.
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Troglodytes aedon atacamensis I would clearly attribute to Atacama Region.

And finaly Troglodytes aedon rex I ask myself which king Berlepsch and Leverkühn may have in mind? Maybe Paul Leverkühn had Ferdinand I of Bulgaria in mind, but he was not a king in 1890 (only a Knyaz).
 
Taphrospilus said:
And finaly Troglodytes aedon rex I ask myself which king Berlepsch and Leverkühn may have in mind? Maybe Paul Leverkühn had Ferdinand I of Bulgaria in mind, but he was not a king in 1890 (only a Knyaz).
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I don't think it necessarily have to be aimed at one, or any certain, King (rex) at all, it could equally have been perceived as a royal version of a Wren (big, grand, sturdy, powerful, crowned, etc., etc.), but if it does aim at one particular Royalty (though, even if so, I don't understand how we can establish that such is the case!?), why not the Kronprinzen .... (King-to-be) himself, see Title Page, of Ornis ... "Gegründet dem Protectorate Seiner Kaiserlichen und Königlihen Hoheit des ..." and onwards. Or maybe the Royal House (of Vienna/Wien), as a whole? Or ... whomever?

Either way; with no dedication, neither an explanation, or context, nor any other clues or hints (that I can tell) I wouldn't dare to say it's commemorating anyone in particular. Your guess is as good as mine. ;)

Björn

PS. In most cases, that we've seen earlier, when a certain noble Royalty has been commemorated, the Author/s have been pretty clear and/or fairly out-spoken (read; ingratiating, flattering, for their own benefit/gain).
--
 
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Does...

Diag. Tr. furvo e Guiana simillimus, differt tectricibus supracandalibus et rectribus distincte rufescentioribus; dorso etiam rufescentiore; T. furvo hornensi (Less.) forsitan maxime affinis, sed corpore inferiore ut in furvo typico rufescenti-albo (haud colore salmonum, qui discuntar pisces).
Hab. Bolivia cisand: Samaipata.
Typ. Mus. Kiel, Behn coll.
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...shed some light on his royality? Maybe the red of a royal mantle?

Or maybe a certain king sponsored Wilhelm Friedrich Georg Behn voyage to South America?
 
rollie_nl said:
Maybe it is playing games? T.rex is a famous dinosaur so now there is also a T.rex-wren? We will never know.
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What is ment is Tyrannosaurus rex Osborn, 1905

The name rex just means "King", the King of the Dinosaurs, just as the Lion is the King of the animals.

Henry Fairfield Osborn, 1905
Tyrannosaurus and Other Cretaceous Carnivorous Dinosaurs
Bulletin of the American Museum 21(14): 259-265

Fred

Figure: Tyrannosurus rex compared with a human.
 

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My opinion: not playing games as rollie_nl suggested: the name is not T.rex, but yes, it is a hint, like Björn wrote. The text says (l.c., p.6): "mehr röstlchweisse Unterseite" and "etwas grössere Dimensionen" in comparison to "Der echte T.r.furvus ist sehr viel kleiner und hat [. . ] kaum lebhafter röstlich gefärbt." As this description stresses the size and the relatively brighter colour of the new subspecies, the term "rex" must indicate the "superiority" of this form next to the other subspecies: it is the king under the subspecies of Tr.furvus, by its dimensions and its brightness. Anyway, i.m.o. a royal dedication would certainly not be given for a subspecies in the simple term "rex", and the authors leave no doubt about their bird being a form of furvus, so no new species. Of course the German name "Zaunkönig" (hedge king) may also have crossed the minds of these German authors, when choosing the name, like our Dutch name: Winterkoning; Swedish simply "Gärdsmyg". . .
Jan van der Brugge
 
Quoting myelf: it is the king under the subspecies of Tr.furvus

Oh, languages, or better: idiom . . .! I'd better written: among the subspecies. In Dutch the term "onder" in such cases is quite OK; onder can mean: under, beneath, but in expressions like: onder elkaar = among each other, among persons who are familiar with each other, or: who belong to the same group, there is equality, no ranking (we even have the term "onderonsje" for a little private, confidential conversation). So you could not have an onderonsje with the King, we (the people) are His "onderdanen", which the dictionary translates as: subjects (we sometimes mockingly denote our legs as onderdanen). Sorry for not writing impeccably, Yours respectfully, Jan van der Brugge
 
Gmelin's Motacilla furva, https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/2656489 :
furva.
168. M. tota fusca, dorso, alis caudaque lineis atris.
Roitelet du Surinam. Ferm. Surin. 2. p. 201 ?
Brown Warbler. Brown illustr. p. 68. t. 18. Lath. syn. II, 2. p. 508. n. 144.
Habitat in Surinamo, egregie cantans, 4 1/2 pollices longa.
Rostrum pedesque ex flavicante fusci.
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  • Translation of diagnosis: "Wholly brown M[otacilla], with the back, wings and tail with black lines."
  • Additional info at the end of Gmelin's entry: "Lives in Surinam, sings agreeably, 4.5 inches long. Bill and feet yellowish brown."
  • "Roitelet du Surinam. Ferm. Surin. 2. p. 201 ?"
    ...is a ref to Philippe Fermin's "Description générale, historique, géographique et physique de la colonie de Surinam" (1769), https://books.google.com/books?id=6NXPdhDQu-8C&pg=PA201
    Le Roitelet, (h) qu'on regarde à Surinam, comme le rossignol, n'a, depuis la pointe du bec jusqu'au bout de la queue, que cinq pouces: il a le bec noir en dessus, & plus pâle en dessous; la tête, le col, & le dos d'un bai-brun; les ailes, la queue, & le dos bariolés de noir, & la poitrine blanche. Cet oiseau varie tellement son chant, qu'il le rend fort agréable.
    (h) Regulus, seu Passer troglodities
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    = The 'Roitelet' [= Kinglet], (h) which is looked at in Surinam, as the nightingale, is, from the tip of the bill to the extremity of the tail, but 5-inch long: it has the bill black above, & paler below; the head, the neck, and the back bay-brown, the wings, the tail, & the back varied with black, & the breast white. This bird varies so much its song, that it make it very agreeable.
    (h) Regulus, or Passer troglodities

  • "Brown Warbler. Brown illustr. p. 68. t. 18."
    ...is a ref to Peter Brown's "New illustrations of zoology" (1876), text: https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/27845864, plate: https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/27845865
    FIG. II. THE BROWN WARBLER.
    SIZE, of the figure.
    BILL, a little incurvated, and of a yellowish brown.
    COLOUR, entirely brown, palest on the belly; marked on the back, wings, and tail, with numerous dusky bars.
    LEGS, of a yellowish brown.
    Mr. TUNSTALL.
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  • "Brown Warbler. [...] Lath. syn. II, 2. p. 508. n. 144."
    ...is a ref to John Latham's "General synopsis of birds", vol. II (2) (1783), https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/33730584
    144. Brown W.
    Brown Warbler, Brown. Ill. p. 68. pl. 18.
    Le Roitelet de Surinam, Ferm. Desc. Surin. vol. ii. p. 201 ?
    DESCRIPTION. Length four inches and a half. Bill a trifle bent, of a yellowish brown colour: general colour of the plumage brown ; palest on the belly, and marked on the back, wings, and tail, with dusky bars: legs yellow brown.
    PLACES. If this be the bird mentioned by Fermin, which I much suspect, he says that it sings very agreeably, insomuch that it is called the Nightingale at Surinam, where it inhabits.
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Gmelin's text is obviously a mere reworded version of Latham's with a Latin name attached to it.
Both Latham and Gmelin associated Fermin's description to the bird in question with a query, thus I would regard the name as based on Brown's text and figure only.
Brown specified no locality of any kind (not even a continent): Gmelin's "Surinam" is only based on the hypothetical association of Fermin's description to the bird, and thus itself hypothetical.
Brown's figure is admittedly suggestive of some type of house wren, but it seems hard to me to go beyond that...

The first use of the combination 'Troglodytes furvus' that I can trace was by Stephens in 1817: https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/46393740 . Stephens attributed the name unambiguously to Gmelin, thus 'his' name cannot be viewed as having a separate nomenclatural standing.

Should the bird be accepted as a house wren and Surinam be accepted as the type locality (which is quite possibly how Berlepsch und Leverkühn interpreted it), furvus would presumably be what is now known as Troglodytes musculus clarus Berlepsch & Hartert 1902.
 
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So why no priotity. Or is it treated as Nomen dubium? I am a little bit lost with a name used that many time and it is not even treated as a synonym.
 
Taphrospilus said:
So why no priotity. Or is it treated as Nomen dubium? I am a little bit lost with a name used that many time and it is not even treated as a synonym.
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The type locality is but hypothetical and the plate is not identifiable down to a given taxon. Thus it's a nomen dubium, yes.
 
Taphrospilus said:
Interesting that a bird treated at least 100 years as a valid species here e.g. in 1880 is suddenly a Nomen dubium.
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But see already in 1881: https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/8306045.
(Not very common, but this happens. Note that this name would have priority over all the other species-group names that are currently in Troglodytidae except Motacilla troglodytes Linnaeus 1758, which Brown's bird is quite clearly not -- thus if the name was used for a wren, then went out of use, this can hardly have been due to anything else than a problem with its identification.)
 
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