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AOS blog post about Puerto Rico Tody name (1 Viewer)

mb1848

mb1848

Well-known member
May this year a blog post was published which addressed why the Puerto Rico Today's scientific name was mexicanensis?
https://amornithhistory.org/2019/05/01/aves-mexicanus/
My take is Lesson used the word inedit after his brother's name puertoricensis. Google translate that as novel or unreleased? Either way Lesson did not pick it for the name and Priority!
A commentor mentions Van Hassalt's Sunbird . Temminck called it vanhassaltii but Gmelin's brasilensis has priority. But it is not Gmelin's fault Brisson originally thought it was from Brazil.
https://books.google.com/books?id=X...FsKHT83BycQ6AEwAXoECAgQAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false . Page 18.
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/10285#page/486/mode/1up .
 
https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/13396673

Lesson's descriptions show that the localities he gave for both his Todus mexicanus, and "his brother's" Todus portoricensis must have been wrong.

His T. mexicanus has a grey breast and saffron yellow flanks which make it a Puerto Rican Tody. (Of course there are no todies in Mexico.)
"His brother's" T. portoricensis has a broad blue whisker above the white submoustachial stripe, an orange forehead, a pinkish grey breast, bright pink flanks, and yellow limited to the undertail area, which make it a Cuban Tody. (And thus T. portoricensis Lesson 1838 is in fact a junior synonym of T. multicolor Gould 1837.)

("inédit" here means "unpublished" (prior to that point, of course). The word can indeed also mean "unprecedented" or "novel" (i.e., "unheard of").)
 
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Thanks Laurent for this answer and the Resplendent Quetzal post also. Lesson's mistakes are no reason to rename a bird 200 years later.
 
Todus mexicanus what's in a scientific name (to misquote Shakespeare)?
Do the authors truly appreciate the instability and confusion that would be wreaked on avian nomenclature if all inaccurate toponymic scientific names were “corrected?” Some examples will suffice; Amazona barbadensis, Tangara mexicana, Merops americanus, Momotus bahamensis, Rallus aequatorialis, Setophaga aequatorialis, Sporophila angolensis, Touit batavicus, Zenaida asiatica. After this great cleansing what, then, will the next targets be? Frederickena viridis? Leucophaeus atricilla? The ICZN must prevail.
 
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James Jobling said:
The ICZN must prevail.
Click to expand...

In an ideal world :
  • It would be vastly better if Commissioners could refrain from encouraging authors to act outside the Code.
  • It would be vastly better if those responsible for our world lists could refrain from promoting interpretations that clash with an Opinion rendered by the Commission. When the Commission has clearly stated in a ruling that "The available specific name Grallaria fenwickorum Barrera & Bartels in Barrera, Bartels & Fundación ProAves de Colombia, 2010 remains valid for the species of antpitta involved" (Op. 2414), sticking to the use of a (questionably published) junior synonym for said species of antpitta is in direct violation of Art. 80.9. Acting that way effectively encourages others to act outside the Code.
 
Genuine question: How many scientific names of birds have changed due to precedence? Setophaga having precedence over Dendroica caused 29 species to change genus names. Had American Redstart become a Dendroica, it would have changed the genus of one species. But it's against the code!

ICZN / taxonomy specialists might be aghast at the idea, but I guarantee there were a lot more annoyed / aghast biologists and birders who had to deal with the fallout of so much scientific name instability.

I don't present this as an argument that Todus mexicanus should have its name changed. The name is anachronistic, sure, but I don't find it to be the end of the world. However I understand the desire from some to change it, and I see what outsiders perceive as a gap in common sense logic between the "demand for stability and code adherence" and the "need to change 29 of 30 species' names for code adherence."
 
Further to my #6 and to show Sherry et al. the scale of the problems ahead if they succeed in their mission, I give here a list of current erroneous toponyms culled from a quick skip through my MS. (the list would be greatly enlarged if subspecies and synonyms were included);
Acrocephalus caffer, Ailuroedus jobiensis, Amazona barbadensis, Aplonis zelandica, Arborophila gingica, Brotogeris sanctithomae, Bucco capensis, Caryothraustes canadensis, Chalcoparia singalensis, Chloroceryle inda, Chloropsis cochinchinensis, Cissa chinensis, Colaptes cafer, Columbina cruziana, Cyanorhamphus zealandicus, Dacelo novaeguineae, Dendrocolaptes sanctithomae, Dryoscopus senegalensis, Eos bornea, Gymnomystax mexicanus, Halcyon coromanda, Hydrornis guajanus, Laniarius mufumbiri, Leptocoma brasiliana, Merops americanus, Momotus bahamensis, Myiozetetes texensis, Numenius madagascariensis, Oriolus chinensis, Oxyura maccoa, Pelargopsis capensis, Philemon diemenensis, Pitta moluccensis, Platycercus caledonicus, Ploceus philippinus, Poospiza hispaniolensis, Pterocles senegallus, Pycnonotus cafer, Pycnonotus zeylanicus, Pygoscelis papua, Rallus aequatorialis, Rhipidura celebicum, Sakesphorus canadensis, Setophaga aequatorialis, Sicalis columbiana, Spinus magellanicus, Sporophila angolensis, Symposiachrus manadensis, Tangara chilensis, Tangara mexicana, Tangara peruviana, Tanygnathus sumatranus, Telophorus zeylonus, Todus mexicanus, Touit batavicus, Trichoglossus moluccanus, Turnagra capensis, Uraeginthus bengalus, Urocolius indicus, Vini peruviana, Yungipicus moluccensis, Zenaida asiatica, Zonotrichia capensis, Zosterops maderaspatanus, Zosterops rendovae.
 

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